Over Time: First Friends
by Mynuet
Summary: **COMPLETE** At long last, for my loyal readers: Ginny took a deep breath and composed herself. Was she really about to do a striptease in front of her best pal, Draco Malfoy?
1. Confessional

Author: Sharlene/mynuet Title: Over Time: First Friends Rating: R (adult situations, language) Summary: An answer to the "Over Time" challenge for Gushue.com, it tracks Ginny and Draco from the forming of a friendship through ten years. All sorts of changing pairings, including mild mentions of slash, but the happily ever after ones are D/G and R/H. Disclaimer: All your base are belong to us. Intellectual property rights are another matter.  
  
Chapter One:  
  
Confessional. Ginny and Draco get together and share boy/girlfriend  
  
stories over wine/pot/dark chocolate/some hallucinogenic potion.  
  
Your choice.  
  
Required item: Underwear.  
  
Required phrase: `And boy, was I sore the next day!'  
  
Draco's Seventh Year:  
  
It was all Neville Longbottom's fault.  
  
If he hadn't gotten so flustered over creating a solid purple mass at the bottom of his cauldron instead of the runny blue liquid Snape had ordered, he wouldn't have phrased his letter declaring endless love and asking for a date in quite the...inappropriate...way that he had. Then Ginny Weasley wouldn't have choked and gasped in the middle of potions class, or burned her fingers stuffing the parchment into the flames under her cauldron before Snape could grab it and read it to the class. Ginny thought singed fingers were a fair trade for being spared humiliation so total that she would have had to dye her hair and live as a muggle. Still, it was definitely Neville's fault that she got detention.  
  
Not that Neville's crimes ended there. No, he was so unnerved when he realized what he had written, he had turned and attempted a dead run to the potions classroom. This ended up being prevented by his running full tilt into Draco Malfoy, who was, to say the least, not pleased. That McGonagall rounded a corner at the exact moment the Slytherin cast a nasty hex could also be laid t the unfortunate Neville's door; she had been looking for him to escort him to meet with his grandmother in Dumbledore's office. This was not, in Malfoy's opinion, sufficient punishment, and he plotted revenge even as McGonagall declared that he would be serving detention. The only thing that kept the plans from being for Neville's painful demise was that the detention would be served with Snape.  
  
He had not counted on being stuck with the littlest Weasley, scrubbing cauldrons by hand as Snape rushed off to deal with some emergency, probably caused by Longbottom if trends continued. He had definitely not counted on the purple mass in Neville's cauldron tuning into a gas as it came in contact with water.  
  
"Malfoy? What's that?" Ginny had heard a soft whumf and seen Draco disappear in a cloud of magenta smoke. It drifted towards her and she started to cough as it entered her lungs. "I don't feel so good."  
  
"That's funny, I feel great." Malfoy gave her a grin that could only be described as goofy.  
  
Ginny looked at him owlishly. "You do?" She seemed to think for a minute, then broke into a grin. "It does kind of tingle, doesn't it?"  
  
"Malfoys don't tingle." He gave his best attempt at his normal sneer, but broke into a decidedly undignified giggle. "Or if they do, they never admit it."  
  
This was the funniest thing Ginny had ever heard. Her laughter was infectious, and Malfoy joined in. After several minutes of laughing, they were leaning on each other, which was all that kept them from sliding to the ground. Ginny managed to catch her breath enough to gasp, "Ew, ferret cooties!", which just set them both off again.  
  
Even in an altered state, laughter can't last forever. Draco's stomach growled and that seemed to be the signal for them to settle down. He threw his scrub brush at Neville's now-empty cauldron. "This is ludicrous. I'm going to boil Longbottom for soup. And his ruddy toad."  
  
"I might just help. It's all his fault I'm stuck here." Ginny hiccuped and swished a cloth half-heartedly around the bottom of a cauldron while staring at Malfoy fixedly.  
  
"What?" He wobbled a bit as he tried to stare back, but had trouble focusing.  
  
Ginny blinked several times. "Is your hair growing?"  
  
He reached up and ran his hands through it. "I don't think so." He pushed his hands through his hair again, slowly. "Feels weird, though. It's not soft enough."  
  
Without further ado, he dunked his head under the faucet that had been open to pour water into a dirty cauldron. Ginny shrieked with laughter again, but stopped when he stood up, looking sulky, and said, "It's nice and soft now."  
  
"I'm hungry." Ginny dropped her washcloth and started fumbling through her clothes.  
  
Draco shoved his wet hair away from his face, only to stare fixedly at his hand. After a few seconds he shook his head and visibly pulled himself together. "Dinner was ages ago, no chance of getting food at this hour."  
  
"Hah! Shows what you know." Ginny finally remembered why she was digging through her pockets and pulled out her wand. A swish and a flick and a few words later, the room was spotless - and bare.  
  
"Where did all the cauldrons go?" Draco's hand was still moving, as if the scrub brush he has picked up was still in contact with something.  
  
Ginny looked around, feeling vaguely like she should be concerned about the complete lack of deskosity in her surroundings. "I don't know... But wherever they are, they're clean, so we can go eat."  
  
A smile like a sunrise burst onto his face. "Wicked."  
  
Draco thought that tickling the pear to get in the kitchen was brilliant, and had to try it himself before they went in. Ginny admired the way he managed to get the house elves to take them to a small parlor and provide them with enough food for a regiment without spending an hour explaining, as she always seemed to. They agreed that Neville Longbottom was due a horrible revenge, despite their evening having turned out to be fun. Gradually the colors and textures all around them started to become less fascinating, and they focused more on talking.  
  
"What's your deepest, darkest secret?" Ginny's head rolled backwards as a wave of dizziness flowed over her.  
  
"Weasel, if I told anyone, there wouldn't be a point to it being the deepest and darkest." Ginny snorted at this, or possibly at the spoon he had balanced on his nose. "Anyway, you go first. Tell me your somewhat deep, mostly dark secrets and I'll tell you mine."  
  
She mulled this over but couldn't find a flaw in his logic. "Fair enough. Um, I kissed Hermione once."  
  
The Malfoy dignity was nowhere in sight as Draco spit out the butterbeer he'd just been drinking. "You and the mudblood played tonsil hockey? Please tell me there are pictures."  
  
"We did not! And why pictures of a pair of thirteen year old girls pressing their lips together would interest anyone, I haven't the foggiest." Ginny waggled a chicken leg at him menacingly. "Your turn."  
  
"No, I want to hear more about this kissing business." He took a bite of the chicken leg as it went past his face and then looked at her expectantly. "Forbidden passions in the halls of Hogwarts, eh what?"  
  
Ginny snorted. "More like Hermione's obsessive drive for perfection. She wanted to make sure she'd know where the noses go and all, so she wouldn't muck up her first real kiss." Ginny frowned as something filtered through. "And don't call her that word, it's not nice."  
  
"I'm a Slytherin. If we're nice, we lose house points." This sent Ginny off into peals of laughter again, and Draco thought idly that the sound was quite pleasant.  
  
"No more messing about, it's your turn to tell a secret." She had stopped laughing and started flicking peas into the fireplace.  
  
Draco thought for a minute. "I want to bone Pansy Parkinson."  
  
Ginny rolled her eyes. "That's about as big a secret as my wanting to someday marry Harry Potter and have his children." She took a swig of butterbeer as he sputtered, then cut him off with, "Tell me a real secret, like who your first--"  
  
"Millicent Bulstrode. She dragged me into a broom closet and had her wicked way with me. I could barely walk afterwards, and boy, was I sore the next day." Draco grimaced at the memory and then snickered at Ginny's horrified expression.  
  
"I had been going to say kiss." She threw a bread roll at him in disgust. "You realize I'm never going to be able to look her in the eye again."  
  
He caught the roll and bit into it. "Oh, please. It's a natural activity, Millicent's technique aside. Everyone--" He broke off to look at her bright red face. "What am I saying, of course you haven't. Probably saving yourself for marriage."  
  
Ginny looked morose. "Between my brothers and the underwear issue, I'll probably die a virgin."  
  
Sensing the fun mood was dissipating, Draco tried to think of something that would make her feel better. "Come on, Weasley, you're not that bad. I mean, if you weren't a Weasley and completely not my type, I'd fuck you." After a few moments of being stared at in disbelief, he couldn't help fidgeting. "What? Can't I say something nice without being stared at like a zoo animal?"  
  
"Don't be nice, Malfoy. You're really bad at it." Ginny laughed again and the air in the room seemed light again. "Anyway, you haven't seen the underwear in question. It could be marketed as birth control."  
  
"So why wear it?" He shrugged and started digging around the wreckage on the table for a full bottle of butterbeer.  
  
Ginny growled, "Because, you great looby, that's all my mother will buy for me. And it's not like the youngest Weasley has any money to go out and buy her own knickers."  
  
Draco rolled his eyes. "Well, the solution is obvious, isn't it? Don't wear any."  
  
Ginny turned this thought over in her mind and couldn't seem to find a problem with it. "You're right."  
  
"Of course I am." Draco shut his eyes against a sudden feeling of vertigo. The next thing he saw when he opened his eyes was Ginny standing in front of the fire with a great deal of white cotton and elastic in her hands.  
  
She threw it into the flames and raised a fist in the air. "As God is my witness, I'll never wear granny knickers again!"  
  
"Very touching, Miss Weasley, but perhaps you would care to explain why the entire contents of my classroom consist of a scrub brush and what appears to be one of your shoes?" Snape's voice cracked through the room and startled Ginny into falling down with a thump. Draco cackled and Snape's attention turned to him. "And you, Mister Malfoy. Do you have anything to say?"  
  
It seemed as if the whole world was still for a moment before Draco stood and stretched to his full height. In the tone of a Malfoy born and bred, he said haughtily, "The golden Gryf triplets are right, sir. You do look exactly like a vampire who didn't quite finish changing back from a bat."  
  
Ginny dissolved into hysterical laughter and, after seeing the expression on Snape's face, Malfoy joined in. After a moment, Snape walked stiffly to the fireplace and threw in a handful of powder. "Pomfrey!"  
  
A few seconds later, a harassed looking Madame Pomfrey was poking out of the flames. "What of earth is the matter, Severus?" She looked around the room and said, "Oh, dear. They are all that?"  
  
"And went into hysterics." Snape's declaration was somewhat unnecessary, as Pomfrey could see the still giggling pair.  
  
"Bring them to the infirmary. I'll notify Minerva and Professor Dumbledore."  
  
Snape's glare at the two students would have put a basilisk to shame. "I presume the two of you can still manage to propel yourselves about, since you are here instead of in my newly empty classroom. Start walking."  
  
"We're going to get expelled!" Ginny was whimpering and crying as they walked down the hallway, her freckles standing out garishly against her dead white skin. Draco patted her awkwardly on the shoulder before his eyes rolled back and he dropped to the ground.  
  
Ginny screamed and sobbed on Draco's shirtfront until Snape cast a muting charm on her. "He will be fine, Miss Weasley, no thanks to your caterwauling."  
  
Nothing more was said as they went to the infirmary, the unconscious Malfoy floating behind them like a helium balloon. Ginny continued to mutely cry in panic as she held Malfoy's hand and watched Snape confer with Madame Pomfrey, Professor McGonagall and Dumbledore. Draco was lowered to a bed and the attention of all the adults turned to Ginny.  
  
"Can you tell us what happened, child?" Madame Pomfrey's voice was gentle and Ginny burst into fresh bursts of hysterical, silent tears. The nurse glared at Snape and he removed the charm, leaving Ginny to burst out with, "And it's all Neville's fault!"  
  
Pomfrey and McGonagall gasped, and Snape looked pleased. Dumbledore just smiled faintly and said, "Just for clarity, my dear, perhaps you could explain everything that has happened, tonight, including Mr. Longbottom's involvement."  
  
And so Ginny started babbling, going over every detail while still holding onto Draco's hand for dear life. As soon as she described the purple solid and the magenta smoke, Madame Pomfrey bustled away and came back with two vials. She poured one down Malfoy's throat and handed the other one to Ginny as soon as she was done talking. "Drink up, dear. Everything will be all right in the morning."  
  
Ginny obeyed and found herself drifting off to sleep, hearing snatches of conversation. "Completely accidental...Longbottom producing one of the strongest illicit...Where are my desks?"  
  
The next thing she heard was rather a lot of groaning and cursing. "Shut it, Malfoy, some of us want to sleep."  
  
"Weasley?" He turned sharply towards her voice and bitterly regretted it. "Holy fuck, I'm dying."  
  
Ginny groaned as a truly painful amount of sunlight assaulted her eyelids. "Consider yourself lucky. I think I might pull through."  
  
"We didn't... I don't think... What happened?" Random images were tap dancing through his skull, but the most worrisome one was of Weasley holding her underwear. He couldn't seem to find anything else in his brain to connect it with.  
  
"I think that adding water to Neville's cauldron made whatever was in it some kind of drug." Ginny pushed herself to a seated position and winced. "Incidentally, if you ever get anywhere with Parkinson, let me know if those knockers are real or not. There's a pool on in Gryffindor and I could use the cash."  
  
"Hopefully I'll be able to tell you before you catch cold, prancing around with no knickers on." Draco pinched the bridge of his nose and rubbed. While he was glad that his memory had returned, bringing with it the blessed knowledge that nothing had happened, his father would be rolling over in his grave if he'd heard Draco talking to a Weasley. Well, if he'd gotten a grave. His mother would have an apoplexy at his speaking so this way to a girl, but he couldn't bring himself to care.  
  
She laughed, though, so maybe it was all right. "I can't bring myself to regret that. It deserved to burn."  
  
Draco Malfoy then had a brilliant, ludicrous, completely barking mad and yet fun thought. "So, you want to be friends?"  
  
"I guess we already are." Ginny seemed thoughtful for a moment, then a decidedly evil smile crept over her face. "Just think how many people we can piss off in one blow."  
  
Draco's stomach rumbled and he saw by the clock on the wall that breakfast was currently being served in the Great Hall. With considerable effort, he pushed himself to his feet and smoothed down the front of his hopelessly wrinkled robes. "Shall we start now, then?"  
  
"Let's." And the equally rumpled Ginny put her hand in the crook of his elbow before following him to breakfast. 


	2. Valentine's

Author's Note: I completely forgot about one last time. *^^* Smooches to sabacat, Hermione-2113 and Thalia for reviewing, and Dangermonki and Aria for reading as I type. :) I didn't explain before, but this was for a challenge to write a D/G story that spans ten years, and to use at least four out of eight scenarios. Well, I sat down and plotted out how to use all eight, and I've got six of them written, for a total of 37 pages so far in MS Word. I'm just posting it in chapters whenever it seems like the thing to do, and hoping to amuse someone beside myself while I'm at it. The text at the top of each chapter, btw, is the challenge scenario the scene is based around. Happy reading. :) Oh, and if anyone can come up with a title and/or summary that's not as sick-making as my lame attempts, you get special smooches, recognition in an author's note, and the right to ask for a story for your very own.  
  
Chapter Two:  
  
Valentines. One of our two like-birds sends a valentine and the  
  
other feels guilty because s/he forgot.  
  
Required item: A handkerchief.  
  
Required phrase: `A black rose seems a trifle incongruous,  
  
doesn't it?'  
  
It took months before the school got used to seeing Draco Malfoy and Ginny Weasley hanging out together. Ron was convinced that the drug had done something permanent to Ginny, but calmed down considerably when he realized that there was not going to be any exchanging of bodily fluids between his sister and the great bouncing ferret. Neville was now in excellent shape from the amount of running he did daily to avoid the Weasleys and Malfoy. Ginny had collected almost 200 galleons from her fellow Gryffindors after Pansy threw herself at Draco to "steal" him from Ginny and Draco had passed on the information that Pansy's morning routine included an engorging cream on her breasts. Ginny had even gotten a boyfriend, a sixth year Slytherin who had gotten to know her when she sat with Draco for meals. That had lasted until Ginny found him snogging a Ravenclaw behind Hagrid's hut. The boy had begged for a transfer to Durmstrang within a week, since no place in the castle was safe from the separate but painful vengeful actions of Ron Weasley and Draco Malfoy.  
  
Then came Valentine's Day. Draco hadn't particularly been paying attention to realize it was coming up. He'd ended things with Pansy when he realized she was completely incapable of carrying on a conversation, so his only thought on the subject was relief that he didn't have to do anything for the holiday.  
  
This lasted until the owl post arrived and his plate was buried under a mound of valentines. He could see Ginny sitting with Granger across the Hall, smirking at the look of horror he could feel on his face. Scowling at the traitorous wench, he started sorting through the stack of envelopes, organizing them by how well he recognized the name of who sent it. Then he came across one that made him feel like his fingers had been burnt.  
  
On the surface, recoiling in terror might have seemed like an odd reaction to the innocent pasteboard, which bore an embossed picture and the words, "Happy Valentine's Day, to the boy with the most influence over my knickers. Love, Ginny."  
  
"Holy fuck." Draco's mind was racing. What was he going to do? He'd never thought of her as a girl, but he couldn't blow off his best friend's feelings. He tried to calm himself down. He was Draco Malfoy. He could handle anything. All he had to do was find a valentine for her that conveyed the spirit of the day, made up for him being late with it, didn't crush any girlish hopes she had so much that she would never speak to him again, but subtly pointed out that his interest in her was strictly that of a platonic friend. Right.  
  
He was doomed.  
  
First things first. Analyze precisely what she sent. It was a simple card, nothing fancy. Then again, it might have been the best she could afford. The design was feminine, a bouquet of flowers with a stylized red ribbon around them. The one jarring note was a black rose, smack dab in the center of the other flowers. Weren't roses supposed to mean something? What the hell did a black rose mean? Shoving all the valentines into his bag, he stalked off to the library, cursing women, roses, St. Valentine, and his own devilish good looks.  
  
Hours later, he'd completely missed Potions, skipped lunch to minimize the risk of running into his favorite person in the world, and he had ten minutes to get to Transfiguration. Running like hell, he made it to the owlery in two, and used a further three minutes to scribble specific instructions and fling his owl out the window. He made it to class, out of breath but triumphant, just as McGonagall was about to close the doors.  
  
Dinner that night was destined to be talked about for years. The chaos of hundreds of kids jockeying for food had just started to die down when a fanfare sounded, seemingly from nowhere. Ginny looked up from where she'd been sitting and chatting with Draco to see six white doves fly in. Ribbons clutched in their beaks held up a banner which read, "Happy Valentine's Day to my best friend." A collective sigh arose from the girls as the doves fluttered to circle around the beet-red Ginny Weasley. There was a heavenly sounding chime and the swirling birds and ribbons became a shower of sparkles, gilding her face and hair before resolving into a necklace with a yellow rose pendant. Ginny reached up and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, which let the rapt audience see one of the matching earrings. The chiming faded to leave a hushed, almost reverent, silence in the Hall.  
  
It was broken by Ginny bursting into giggles and playfully punching Draco Malfoy in the arm. "You tremendous prat. You just had to outdo my puny little card, didn't you?"  
  
The Slytherin table in general burst into laughter, followed by the rest of the student body as her comment was passed on. Draco leaned in and whispered, loudly enough for the others to hear, "And let a Weasley upstage a Malfoy? I'd have to hide my head in shame and become a Hufflepuff."  
  
"I doubt you meet the criteria." Ginny was still snickering as she gathered her books to head for the library. He walked with her, Crabbe and Goyle flanking them like well trained puppies. "Seriously, though, what on earth possessed you? You've made every other guy in school look like a complete piker for doing less for his girlfriend than you did for someone you have no romantic interest in."  
  
"Earning the undying enmity of that many blokes at once does have its own intrinsic appeal." Draco looked smug, then slightly ill as he remembered what he had to do. "And who says I have no romantic interest in you?"  
  
Ginny stopped in her tracks to look at him as if he had just declared his ambition to become a professional belly dancer. "How about anyone with eyes? Even Vince and Greg know that, don't you, boys?"  
  
Crabbe and Goyle only stopped nodding vigorously when Draco shot them a death glare. He took a deep breath and tries again. "No, really, We-- er, Ginny, you're, uh, very... pretty."  
  
"Malfoy, did you--" She stopped and looked at the waiting henchmen. "Could we have a moment?" Once they were out of immediate hearing distance, Ginny dragged Draco to a shadowed corner. "All right, Malfoy, spill. Something's sent your brain completely round the twist, because you're no more interested in me than I am in you."  
  
Draco was starting to get the extremely nasty feeling that he was making a complete ass of himself. Falling back on the habit of a lifetime, he sneered. "And next you'll be saying you're not."  
  
"You're..." Ginny took a moment to look deep into his eyes and think. Slowly, as if the thought was taking a while to form, she said, "Is this about the valentine I gave you?"  
  
"I could understand the bouquet, but a black rose seems a trifle incongruous, doesn't it? Love beyond death doesn't seem a cheerful holiday greeting to me." He crossed his arms over his chest and glared. "I had to spend hours in the library to find that out, I hope you know."  
  
She could see how serious he was, and how much effort he had gone to in order to try to make her happy. This is why she lasted thirty seconds before she started laughing. "You... I... I... Bwah!"  
  
"Ah, yes, that must be why I treasure your friendship. Your scintillating conversational skills." Draco was starting to question the sanity of at least one person currently standing there. Ginny was too busy laughing to question anything. Tears started to trickle from her eyes and he handed her his handkerchief, debating whether to wait for her to achieve coherency or to just leave.  
  
She tugged on the back of his robe as he turned away, saying, "No, wait, I'll explain," between gasping for breath, so it seemed he was stuck with the first option. After several deep breaths, she managed to start calmly. "The design was just what was on the cards I bought. One of the cheapest box sets they had."  
  
His lips twitched as he watched her fight the giggles, and he felt like a tremendous weight was starting to come off his chest. "You sent out multiple, cheap valentines? I don't know whether to call you a jezebel or a miser."  
  
This earned him a thump on the arm. "I sent valentines to each of my brothers, you idiot. Do you have any idea how expensive it is to owl Egypt and Romania?"  
  
His heart was now singing with hopeful joy. "So you don't like me that way, right?"  
  
"Of course not. I mean, I suppose you're attractive enough, as far as albinos with half of Britain's petroleum imports in their hair goes, but..." Her nose wrinkled as she looked him over. "Not for me. Besides, I know too many of your awful habits."  
  
"Oh, thank God." He slumped against the wall in relief. "I'd do anything for you, you know that, but this was giving me nightmares."  
  
She scowled and then their eyes met and neither could maintain the pose. Snickering, they resumed their leisurely walk to the library. "So I'm a greasy albino, am I? I'll have you know there are those who find the look quite attractive." He pinched her arm and she laughed.  
  
"Don't I know it. Hannah Abbott called you the "Slytherin Sex God" yesterday when she was checking with me if it was okay to send you a valentine." Ginny made a face like she was retching.  
  
"Abbott? She's the Hufflepuff, right, with the..." A vague arm gesture conveyed the rest of the sentence quite well.  
  
"36DD, yes. And long blonde hair, and pouty, bee stung lips. You'll be the envy of the Gryf common room, at least the male part. And I'm not too sure about Lavender..." Ginny hitched up her bookbag and smirked at Draco.  
  
"Mmmm, Brown and Abbott. Excuse me while I take a moment to savor the imagery." Draco's blissful look was cut short by Ginny snorting. "What?"  
  
She shook her head, curls falling forward to cover her new earrings. "Just how weird boys are."  
  
"And you're an expert on the subject, despite it being six and half years and counting and you still haven't talked to Potter the Perfect."  
  
Ginny rolled her eyes. "Shut up, you. And I am an expert, which is why I know that most boys like to think about girls kissing each other, but they don't believe that the opposite is true."  
  
Draco stopped, looking like he'd smelled something nasty. "Girls think about boys kissing other boys?"  
  
"Malfoy, if I could sell tickets to you planting one on Harry, I would have more money than God." Ginny laughed at his expression and they walked through the library doors in perfect charity with each other. 


	3. Christmas Shopping

Author's note: Don't kill me! There WILL be Draco/Ginny romance, I swear it on my pre-ordered copy of OotP! It's just that they're stubborn, and it's taking them a good long while to get there. This chapter takes us up to page 15 of 42 that are written, and I'm still working on it. Just for you, though, my dearest readers who take the time to review, I'm going to include a sneak peek at a later chapter. Again, please don't hurt me. *cowers*  
  
Christmas. Our two favourite people bump into each other while Christmas shopping. Their meeting turns into coffee.  
  
Required item: a `mini'-sized parcel or bag.  
  
Required phrase: `Did you reduce that, or is it really that  
  
small?'  
  
**Bonus: if you mention Scrooge, Snoopy or the Grinch.  
  
Five years later:  
  
Ginny pushed her way through the crowds, reminding herself that going to Azkaban would be horrible, and so stupefying hordes of muggles was not an option. She enjoyed looking at all the decorations, and the things that muggles got up to with electricity, and even the exotic things that she could find in muggle stores. Shopping on December 24, however, was not one of her brightest ideas. She had just rounded a corner when she bumped into something solid and went sprawling onto her backside. "Watch where you're going!"  
  
She heard a rich laugh from somewhere above her and she scowled. "Between that hair and that temper, it's got to be a Weasley." The bearded man held his hand out and she took it, standing up and looking him over.  
  
"Malfoy? Is that you under that mass of hair?" The man's face broke into a smile and she gasped. "It is you! What on earth are you doing here of all places? I'd heard you were in Australia."  
  
"I was, but then it seemed somehow sacrilegious to spend Christmas sweltering, so I came home for a bit. My mum's thrilled, but I had to get out for a bit, so here I am." His eyes roamed over her, taking in all the changes that the years had wrought. "You grew boobs."  
  
She laughed. "Yeah, puberty finally hit sometime around age 20. Come on, let's go have some coffee. I'm cold." They fell into step easily, the companionship of their school friendship coming back easily. Her eyes flicked over the bag dangling from his belt. "So, did you reduce that, or is it really that small?"  
  
Draco rolled his eyes. "I see you haven't changed much. How a girl so innocent could come up with innuendo from anything always baffled me."  
  
"Education, my dear Malfoy. I'm still the world's best educated virgin." She grimaced before stepping into a diner.  
  
They'd slipped into a booth in the back corner when he said sympathetically, "I read about it. The wedding that wasn't, they called it."  
  
"Yeah, it was something." She winced. "I don't know who was more upset, Rita Skeeter or my mother."  
  
"Want to talk about it?" It had taken her a while to train him, but he still remembered at least the rudiments of the whole comforting thing.  
  
She grimaced. "Maybe later, after we've progressed to hard liquor. Or at least massive amounts of sugar." He grinned and she grinned and it was as if they'd never lost touch after he left Hogwarts. "So how the hell are you, Mister I've-got-two-broken-hands-and-can't-send-an-owl?"  
  
"Fairly well, Miss Has-no-room-to-talk." They ordered, chatting about what they had done in the intervening time. Draco had spent a lot of time traveling the world and learning about his family's investments, while Ginny had gone to university and was now doing post-graduate work in the field of integrating muggle technology with the wizarding world. After dinner they started walking around aimlessly, looking into store windows and talking about anything and everything.  
  
Finally Ginny said, "Okay, forget the liquor. What happened was, I was walking up the aisle, thinking about how this was it, I, Ginny Weasley, the homely little redhead, was marrying Harry bloomin' Potter, the Boy Who Lived."  
  
"No false modesty, please. I saw the pictures of you in the dress, and you looked marvelous." Draco patted her hand as she squeezed his arm affectionately.  
  
"Maybe moderately stunning. And Harry looked so adorable, all in his nervous but brave heroic mode, trussed up in a tuxedo because he'd refused to wear formal robes." Ginny sighed and seemed to drift off into her own thoughts.  
  
Draco waved a hand in front of her face. "Weasel, telling a story generally involves the movement of the mouth in order to produce sounds."  
  
"Sorry, I just thought that those Scrooge McDuck boxers would make a good gift for someone I know." Ginny shook her head and started walking again. "Anyway, as I'm walking up the aisle on my dad's arm, it dawns on me that husbands and wives generally have sex."  
  
"I sincerely hope so, given that I'm getting married on New Year's." He cut off her congratulations with a hand wave. "I'll go into raptures about my fiancee in a minute, finish what you were saying. You were walking down the aisle when something perfectly obvious to anyone above age ten occurred to you."  
  
"Not much more to tell, really. I started having a panic attack and just as we reached Harry I blurted out, 'I can't do this', and he kind of wobbled and said, 'Oh, thank God'." Ginny shook her head. "You know, that's the second time in my lifetime I've gotten that reaction when I let someone off the hook for being involved romantically with me. I really need to work on that."  
  
Draco nodded solemnly. "It's a terrible habit of yours."  
  
Ginny giggled. "Well, the Wizard Wireless had us hooked up with microphones, since it was a Big Event, so everyone in the world knew at once that the wedding wasn't going to come off. We just kind of looked at each other and grinned, then we turned and invited everyone to go on to the reception."  
  
Draco followed her as she ducked into a store and exchanged money for a hideous looking stuffed green thing. "What on earth is that? And what about those pictures with Granger?"  
  
"It's the Grinch. Fred's daughter adores Dr. Seuss." Ginny ducked into an alley and looked around shiftily. "Cover me."  
  
He rolled his eyes, but kept a lookout while she shrank the toy to pocket size. "So you didn't want to bang Potter, which is perfectly understandable, but why Granger? I mean, there's better looking women out there if that's what you're into."  
  
"Pig." Ginny punched his arm and he winced. "And I'm not a lesbian, and neither is Hermione. We just sold pictures of us kissing to the Daily Prophet."  
  
Draco smirked. "This almost sounds like a better story than giving Potter the old heave-ho."  
  
"A longer one, at any rate. You probably wouldn't remember him, since he was a Gryffindor, but there was a boy in my year, Kevin Entwhistle. Since Colin got special permission to bring his muggle camera to Hogwarts and have it work, Kevin asked for and got permission to set up his computer." Ginny laughed. "The boy was a regular whiz-kid with it, outsmarted all of the staff."  
  
"How so? I've seen muggles with them, but I've never used one, myself." Draco shrugged and looked into a store window at a huge display with a caricatured beagle and the word 'Snoopy' written above it for incomprehensible reasons. "I still don't understand muggles at all."  
  
Ginny shook her head dismissively. "That's because you have no interest in learning. Kevin, however, did... And so he had the entire Gryffindor tower on camera at all times."  
  
"You mean... How?" Draco had stopped and was looking at her in disbelief as she giggled.  
  
"In simple terms, all of the cameras were part of his computer. The only difficult part, according to Kevin, was getting the cameras set up properly, especially in the girls' showers." Draco whistled and she nodded. "Not that I knew about this at the time, mind you, or he wouldn't have lived to see his next birthday."  
  
Draco shook his head in admiration. "I may have to learn a bit about these things after all. But what does this have to do with-- Ah, that's where the one from when you were thirteen came from."  
  
"Precisely. I'm glad life amongst the toffee-nosed hasn't completely ruined your ability to think." He growled and she danced out of reach of his playful swipe. "In any case, he and Neville... You remember Neville, right?"  
  
"Of course I do. He's the git to blame for my acquiring a red haired shadow in seventh year." Draco gave a half smile and rumpled her hair. "I'll have to send him a thank you card sometime."  
  
Ginny scowled and tried to bring her hair back to a semblance of order. "Do that again and I will break your aristocratic fingers." He sneered and she stuck out her tongue at him before continuing. "Anyway, he and Neville have been together for a couple of years--"  
  
"Wait, I thought he was a perv who got his jollies watching women shower."  
  
"I do recall saying ALL of Gryffindor tower, try to keep up. Surely you've encountered the concept of bisexuality somewhere in your checkered past." Ginny tried out the Malfoy smirk and Draco laughed. "At any rate, the funding for victims of Voldemort tends to focus on ones from the last battle, and Neville didn't have the money for getting the new Cruciatus treatment for his parents. Kevin dug out that old picture of me and Hermione practicing how to kiss and sold it for enough to pay for one of them to be treated."  
  
They walked on and she continued, "Neville was furious when he found out, tried to get the sale cancelled. When he couldn't, he made Kevin confess everything to me and Hermione." Ginny shrugged. "So, we talked about it, and we had him take another picture so that we could pay for the other treatment. We even had some money left over, which is what I'm spending on gifts this year."  
  
"I'll never understand the way your tiny little mind works. I'd have expected you to hold out for castration." Draco shook his head and looked up to see it was starting to snow. "You know, we should find someplace warm to continue this reminiscing. Possibly with alcohol."  
  
"All right, I think I'm done for tonight. Let's find a pub." Ginny looked around and started walking with purpose.  
  
Draco jogged a bit to catch up with her. "I didn't say you could stop talking, Weasley. Why'd you let the miserable sod live? And what'd Granger say about your decision for mercy?"  
  
Ginny sighed and looked off into the distance, her chin lifted in the way that he remembered meant that she was holding off tears by force of will. After a few moments, she shook her head and said, "Because Kevin's voyeurism is the reason that bastard didn't get a chance to kill me when the Battle of Hogwarts happened."  
  
"Weasley, I... I never said..." Draco looked like he was in pain, and with good reason. No one knew for sure why it was that Lucius Malfoy had targeted Ginny Weasley when the death eaters had attacked Hogwarts in Draco's fifth year. The consensus was that it was either connected to the Chamber of Secrets or to the man's hatred for Arthur Weasley, but the combined hexes of about twenty Gryffindors had blasted his body to shreds just as he was about to finish her off.  
  
Ginny put a hand up to his lips. "Yeah, you did. I was awake in the hospital wing, Malfoy. Just not able to talk back." She gave him a small, lopsided smile as she remembered him sneaking up to her bed after the battle was done, stammering out apologies before sneaking back to his own bed. "Anyway, that's done with, and there's the pub. Now you can start telling me about the woman who reeled in the Slytherin Sex God."  
  
He laughed, as she'd intended him to, and followed her into the pub. Over quite a few pints of lager, he told her about the wonderful, marvelous woman he was about to marry, and Ginny made fun of him mercilessly for being completely, hopelessly besotted.  
  
--------  
  
Author's Note 2: Yes, that is indeed the end of this chapter. In order to entice people to come back, and to remember the no hurting thing, here's a sneak preview:  
  
Draco was starting to think this had been a very bad idea.  
  
"Here." She tossed the wand to him over the screen and he caught it easily. "Make the music follow this beat to start, and follow my lead as needed. Slow and smooth at first."  
  
As he complied, she took a deep breath and composed herself. Was she really about to do a striptease in front of her best pal, Draco Malfoy? What if he got turned on? What if he didn't? And which one did she want? Steeling herself to just think of him as a piece of furniture and to concentrate on working out the dancing so she could teach the others, she started.  
  
Definitely a very, very bad idea. Because the only clothing Ginny had removed thus far was an opera length glove, and he felt like his body temperature had gone up ten degrees.  
  
----  
  
I'm also working on another story which is more straightforward D/G, and I've started putting it up. Depending on how the reviewing goes depends on which one gets posted (and finished) faster. 


	4. Letters

Author's Note: Smooches to sabacat for staying with the story. :D And J, your review puts you in the pantheon of my favorite reviewers of all time. *swoon* The jump in time is part of the challenge; it's supposed to take place over ten years. There's about five chapters left after this one, and four of them are written, so I'll be posting fairly frequently. And on a side note... *poke poke* When are you going to update "Drown My Sorrow"? And are you leaving "Tabanaca" where it is, or is there more?  
  
This chapter doesn't answer a challenge scenario, but I needed it here, so here it is:  
  
Owl messages sent over time:  
  
"Malfoy:  
  
The wedding was gorgeous, and the bride more so. You didn't look all that bad, either. The best man, however, was definitely the best. Hope you had as much fun during your honeymoon as I did. Putting my education to use, I remain,  
  
Yours, Ginny"  
  
"Weasley:  
  
My gorgeous bride, the French Riviera, and a five star hotel room. If there's ever a bedroom Olympics, Tabitha and I will be disqualified from competing for being too good. Watch out for Zabini, eh? He's a good guy, but tends to use women like tissues.  
  
Exhausted, The Slytherin Sex God"  
  
"Malfoy:  
  
Funny, Zabini didn't use me to wipe his nose at all! Seriously, though, I'm not really interested in strapping him to a white picket fence - he's a jerk. But a jerk with a smile that can melt thighs at thirty paces.  
  
Going for the gold, Ginny"  
  
"Weasel:  
  
Get your arse to the manor on Saturday. Try to look presentable. Tabitha's holding some huge dinner party thing and I need someone to play poker with when I sneak out. Bring Zabini, too, so there's someone around to fleece.  
  
Five card stud, no wilds, Draco"  
  
"Ferret:  
  
Zabini's a thing of the past - that's what happens when you don't write for months, you get behind on the news. In any case, I'll be happy to take your money. I might be late, though, since Harry and I have another plan cooked up to try to get the two numbskulls to admit they like each other. Honestly, I've never seen two people more suited for each other insist that they're nothing but friends.  
  
Contemplating fratricide, Ginny"  
  
"Weasley:  
  
Just strip their clothes off and lock them in a closet. I'm sure even that prat brother of yours can figure it out from there.  
  
D"  
  
"Malfoy:  
  
Ha. Ha. Ha. As this would involve my taking off Ron and Hermione's clothes, I think I will opt out of that plan. At least until I can no longer avoid it. See you Saturday.  
  
Excited about meeting Mrs. Malfoy, Gin"  
  
"Weasel:  
  
Here's the money I owe you. Where did you learn to bluff like that?  
  
Much poorer, Draco"  
  
"Malfoy:  
  
You try playing poker against seven people who've known you all your life. If that doesn't build a hell of a poker face, I don't know what does.  
  
Learning to stack the deck from Fred and George didn't hurt, though. Hah!  
  
Griftily yours, Ginny"  
  
"Weasley:  
  
Why, you cheating hussy. Enclosed is the same again, for impressing the hell out of me. I didn't know you had it in you.  
  
Tabitha's on a tear about something. Why can't women think sensibly, or at least communicate meaningfully?  
  
Misogynistically, Draco"  
  
"To the Great Bouncing Ferret:  
  
Bite my freckled behind.  
  
G  
  
PS Meaningful enough for you?"  
  
"Miss Virginia Weasley:  
  
Please allow this unworthy soul to do a small amount of groveling at your delicate feet. I keep forgetting you're a member of that odd species known as the female gender. On the other hand, forget the groveling. It's your fault for being sensible and easy to talk to. Plus I'm sure groveling is against the Malfoy rules.  
  
Decidedly not groveling, Draco"  
  
"Malfoy:  
  
Got a letter from your spouse threatening to name me as the other woman. Considered calling St. Mungo's for the poor dear, but figured living with you would drive anyone insane. Let me know if there's anything I can do.  
  
Ginny"  
  
"Weasley:  
  
Tabitha has some maggoty notion that writing to you is putting our marriage in trouble. Will not write for a while, as am being dragged to couples counseling. I tried to explain that if I'd wanted to fuck you I could have years ago, but this somehow did not go over well. At least the manor has extra bedrooms so I don't have to sleep on a couch.  
  
Irritated beyond belief, Malfoy"  
  
"Malfoy:  
  
In re: 'years ago': You wish.  
  
In re: 'not writing': Focus on your marriage, pal. Enclosed is a letter for your other half. Seriously, if it's bothersome to your wife, you choose the woman you're going to spend your life with over some old friend from school. I'll always think of you fondly and consider you a friend.  
  
Ginny"  
  
"Dear Mrs. Malfoy:  
  
I sincerely apologize for any heartache my friendship with your husband has caused you. I know that he can be an insensitive bastard, but I had no idea that our resuming an old school friendship disturbed you. Please, accept my apologies, and my assurance that I have no interest in interfering in your marriage. I wish you both all the best, and hope that with me out of the picture, you can make things work.  
  
Sincerely, Virginia Weasley"  
  
"Dear Weasel:  
  
Hey, remember how I was supposed to choose the woman I swore to be with forever over an old school friend? How about when it's my best friend of all time versus the woman fucking the pool boy in my bed? I think I would have been less offended if she hadn't invited me to join them. Luckily, there's a prenup and the stupid bitch video taped her antics with Giorgio the Gigolo. Women are awful. Except Weasleys, of course. Although, I don't know your mother that well. Hm.  
  
Divorce-iffically yours, Draco"  
  
"Malfoy:  
  
Will be over with liquor as soon as I've ditched my flavor of the month.  
  
Gin and tonic, and vodka, and whiskey..."  
  
"Dear Alcohol Goddess:  
  
What the fuck did you pour down my throat? I swear that hangover lasted three days. You left that muggle box thing with the little paddles. Have decided I like this "Zelda" thing, and so you're not getting it back. Ha! Serves you right for intoxicating an innocent man to the point of paralysis.  
  
Draco"  
  
"Stinking ferret scum:  
  
Innocent, HAH! Will extract the cost of my Nintendo from your hide, or at least your Gringott's account. And if you think Zelda is good, wait until you see the Playstation. The smackdown is approaching, for I will bring car racing games, and it shall be good. Heck, if you arrange for the manor to be reachable, one of these days I'll bring my actual car. Not that you can drive.  
  
Ginny  
  
PS Would this be the appropriate time to discuss the generations of Malfoys spinning in their graves at the thought of muggle devices in the sacred mausoleum you call home?"  
  
"Muggle loving Gryffindor:  
  
So that's what's causing those earthquakes. Must remember to relocate the catacombs. You still have to explain what the connection is between this computer thing and getting pictures of hot women. All I see is a box with some glass in it. Earn your keep, wench!  
  
Also, there's this reunion thing at Hogwarts. Hard to believe it's been almost ten years. Seeing as how you keep alleging to be of the species female, how about putting on a dress and trotting around with me?  
  
The Once and Future King of Slytherin"  
  
(Don't despair, fellow D/G worshippers! The next chapter is when we start heading in that direction.) 


	5. Reunion

Reunion. Ginny and Draco run into each other at an Alumni meeting at  
  
Hogwarts.  
  
Required item: An escaped beastie of Hagrid's.  
  
Required phrase: 'Apparently age does not equal wisdom'  
  
"Shut it, Ron, this dress is perfectly respectable." Ginny scowled and stuck her tongue out at her brother as they waited for Hermione and Harry to arrive before apparating to Hogsmeade to catch a carriage to the reunion planned at Hogwarts.  
  
"That's not a dress, it's a cocktail napkin." Anything Ron might have added was cut off by Harry's arrival.  
  
"Hermione'll be along in a minute. We got caught up at the office and she wanted to go back to her flat to get showered before coming here." Harry leaned over to kiss Ginny's cheek. "Where's the rest of your dress, Gin?"  
  
Ginny rolled her eyes. "Someone remind me why I didn't just floo over to Malfoy's and meet you prats at the school?"  
  
"Because we're much better companions than that git?" Ron said hopefully.  
  
"No, I think it was more that I didn't want to deal with soot in my hair and his apparition wards are on the fritz." Ginny looked thoughtful. "Of course, it could be because I sinned in a past life..."  
  
"Would that be the one where you were named Witch Weekly's most heartless flirt?" Harry tugged on one of her curls, only to get his hand slapped.  
  
"Or maybe it was when you cruelly left poor, heroic Harry Potter at the altar, breaking his fragile heart." Ron sniffled and sighed through this melodramatic announcement, only to have two fists head towards his arms. "Hey, hey, go easy."  
  
"Yeah, Harry, we have to leave him pretty for when Hermiiiiiiiione gets here." Ginny ruffled Ron's hair and snickered at the way he turned bright red.  
  
"Would you leave off? Hermione's not interested in me like that." Ron turned to fuss with the chess set on the table, and Ginny coughed to cover the noise of Hermione's entrance.  
  
Hermione looked confused as anything as Ginny clapped a hand over the other woman's mouth and slanted her eyes significantly at Harry before dragging Hermione out of sight. The boy wonder took his cue and said, in a tone too casual to be true, "So you said Hermione doesn't like you that way, but not that you don't like her. Why's that, do you think?"  
  
"Come off it, Harry, blind goat herders in the Carpathians know I adore Hermione. She just doesn't feel that way, and I wish you'd shut up about it before she gets here." Ron picked up the queen and ran a hand down her face before saying, "I won't have her being made uncomfortable. Besides, I think she likes you that way, and if you hurt her by trying to palm her off on a twerp like me, I'll have to beat you bloody, friend or no."  
  
Ginny took the opportunity to hiss into Hermione's ear. "The next plan after this involves a locked closet and no clothes, so this is your last chance to say flat out whether you like him or not."  
  
Hermione squeaked as Ginny gave her a hard shove and she almost fell at Ron's feet. He managed to catch her even as he turned parchment pale. "Her-Hermione! When did you get here?"  
  
Hermione found her toes suddenly a matter of infinite interest. "Erm. Right around the part where Carpathian goat herders know more than I do." Gathering every bit of the legendary Gryffindor courage, she managed to drag her eyes up to his and saw something there that was very much to her liking. A sly smile crept across her face and she leaned towards him, to the point where their noses were almost touching, and whispered sotto voce, "Although I understand their next plan involves throwing us naked into a locked room, so we might want to wait for that before we actually admit that we've been complete blind idiots for years."  
  
"Don't forget cowardly." Ginny stepped out and straightened her admittedly minimal skirt. "Anyway, Harry, I think we should go on ahead."  
  
Ron looked at Hermione, then at his sister, then at his best friend, then back at Hermione. He whispered something in her ear and she went all pink, but cleared her throat and said, "No, we'll come along now."  
  
They apparated, Ron seeming to forget his objections to Ginny's attire in the face of holding Hermione's hand. As they were climbing out of the carriage at Hogwarts, Hermione leaned in to Ginny and whispered, "He said if we didn't stick to chaperones, he wasn't sure about his self control. Don't be surprised if we disappear early so I can test that."  
  
Ginny snorted. "After all these years of pining for each other, you'd better cut out early, or I'll be convinced neither of you got issued hormones."  
  
"That can't be little Ginny Weasley, can it?" Ginny found herself being lifted in the air and twirled. "How's about a buss for your old friend Seamus?"  
  
"Seamus, Seamus... Do I know a Seamus?" Ginny's eyes danced as she looked down at the still-boyish face. "No, the only Seamus I knew never had eyebrows. Unhand me, stranger!"  
  
"Aw, Gin-love, you wound me" He pantomimed an arrow to the heart.. "Only the kiss of a fair redhead can revive me."  
  
Ginny smirked. "Oi, Ron! Seamus says he wants you to kiss him!" Ginny laughed as Ron turned bright red, Seamus slightly less so.  
  
She laughed harder when Hermione, though pink, shouted back, "Well, you tell Seamus to keep his lips off my property." Everyone milling around joined in the laughter and Hermione and Ron were surrounded by old friends. Ginny stood back a bit, looking around at the place that held seven years of memories.  
  
She nearly jumped out of her skin when she felt a kiss on the side of her neck. "Malfoy, you bastard, haven't you ever heard of saying the word 'hello'?"  
  
"I think someone mentioned it once, but they were peasants, so I wasn't paying attention." Draco was in full Malfoy mode, and she felt the corner of her mouth jerk up in response. "Nice dress."  
  
"I have it on good authority that it's not a dress, it's a cocktail napkin." Ginny reached over and straightened his tie, then patted his chest in satisfaction. "There, now you could pass for handsome... In a good light. I'm glad you finally got rid of the beard."  
  
His eyes roamed over her from head to toe, taking in artfully tousled curls, a strapless, backless dress that ended well above the knee, and heels high enough and spiky enough to qualify as weapons, tied on with ribbons that matched the dress. "Nice cocktail napkin. I don't think I'm worthy."  
  
"You're not, but I'm done with dating for a while, so I might as well take the opportunity to make some nice boys chew their livers out for having no chance." Ginny sighed and nabbed a champagne flute from a passing house elf's tray.  
  
Draco gasped theatrically. "Ginny Weasley, bachelor girl, is giving up dating? The restaurant industry will go into a recession."  
  
"Haven't you been reading the news? The master guild of restaurant owners and florists in the greater Diagon Alley area have been begging me to reconsider for the whole two months that I've been cloistered." She poked him in the stomach and started walking away.  
  
"And here I thought you were sacrificing so much by spending time helping me heal my wounded heart." He heaved a melodramatic sigh. "So what's wrong with dating that you don't want to indulge? I thought all you single people spent all your time out doing glamorous things and hopping from bed to bed. I was quite looking forward to giving it a try."  
  
Ginny snorted. "It's not just muggles that can catch nasty things from sleeping around. Do I look stupid?" His mouth closed abruptly as her elbow jabbed sharply into his stomach. "Besides, it's so boring. You meet someone, you get dressed up, you go to the same restaurants, the same movie theaters, and then you have to deal with octopus hands."  
  
"Hmmm, I could deal with octopus hands, I think." Draco looked somewhat wistful, at least for the three seconds he could maintain the look.  
  
"I suppose you could, oh Slytherin Sex God." Ginny shook her head. "I just got tired of it. I found myself lying under some guy whose main qualification for the task was that he was nice, had a stable career, and we'd been dating for a month. And all I could think was, if I do a good job faking it, I can go home in time to watch the news."  
  
"The /news/?" Draco looked horrified. "And what did I tell you about faking orgasm?"  
  
"It only guarantees that he'll never give me a real one." She parroted dutifully. "But considering all I was thinking about was going home to curl up with a hot water bottle and the weather forecast, I'd pretty much decided not to give it another go. Why not leave him with an ego boost?"  
  
He shook his head. "Hot water bottle, indeed. Next you'll start thinking of chocolate as a substitute for sex or some such rubbish."  
  
"I don't like chocolate all that much. I use something ordered out of the back of Witch Weekly instead." He choked on the champagne he was drinking and she smirked as she walked away, hair swinging behind her. She paused to look over her shoulder. "You coming?"  
  
"Depends on where you're planning on taking me." He knew he should be coming up with some kind of witty banter about her last statement, but his brain had presented a very detailed mental picture and he was having trouble shaking it off. It was unnerving, to say the least.  
  
"Down to see Hagrid. He owled that he had a surprise for me, for my birthday." Ginny waited for him to catch up, then latched onto his arm. "Stupid heels. Why do I wear them?"  
  
"Because you want to be crippled for life from fallen arches, broken ankles, and sore toes?" His brain was screaming at him to remember this was Ginny Weasley, his completely platonic best friend. He shook his head. Maybe he just needed to get laid. It'd been so long, anything female would cause a reaction.  
  
"Yeah. That and they make my legs look a mile long." She looked supremely satisfied and they walked on in silence, enjoying the temperate summer evening.  
  
They came in sight of Hagrid's hut and he looked up, his eyes twinkling. "Ginny! It's great to see ya! Come look at your present."  
  
"Puppies!" At her shriek, Draco winced and lifted a hand to his ear.  
  
"Did you have to shatter my eardrum just to state the blindingly obvious?" Ginny, however, was not paying one bit of attention to him, having run ahead to look at the squirming bundles of fur more closely. Draco followed with considerably more caution, never having developed the affection for Hagrid which somehow blinded Ginny to the risk of dealing with his creatures.  
  
"Malfoy." The half-giant nodded cordially, but returned quickly to talking with Ginny about the dogs. "Turned out Fluffy's a girl, and she and Fang got all friendly-like."  
  
Ginny bit her tongue fiercely to avoid giggling at the way Hagrid's visible skin had gone all red, and at the mental picture of the two very differently sized dogs engaged in being friendly. When she could trust herself to speak, she said, "So are they mean, like Fluffy can be?"  
  
"Naw, not a bit! Well, maybe a little." Hagrid stopped blustering and grinned. "They're really protective, and they really hate bursts of light. They don't get to be too big, not too much bigger than Fang here, but they still love music."  
  
Draco rolled his eyes as Ginny picked up one of the smallest puppies, which was roughly the size of a full grown labrador. All three of the puppy's heads nuzzled against her cheek and started licking her affectionately. "I think it likes me."  
  
"That or it thinks you're food. Considering this is one of Hagrid's crossbreeds, that IS an option." Draco shook his head. Somehow, he didn't need Trelawney around to predict that Ginny was going home with an overlarge canine.  
  
This earned him a withering glare. "Shut it, you. Just because you're too big a git for animals to like you doesn't mean the rest of us are similarly afflicted." She went back to making inane baby talk with the puppy and Draco looked out over the pen, which held dogs of various sizes, including several that looked like draft horses.  
  
"This fence is secure, right? It'd be a huge liability for the school if something were to happen." This time Ginny's glare was almost a physical thing, and he winced with the certain knowledge that one of those sharp heels was going to be crushing his foot as soon as she was done with her puppy euphoria.  
  
"Of course it's secure! You leave Hagrid alone, you big bully." Ginny stuck her tongue out at him, which is exactly when a chirpy voice called out "Smile!" and a bright flash of light went off.  
  
Pandemonium can either describe the capital of hell or a wild uproar. Both definitions seemed accurate as all the hellhounds broke loose. "Don't panic, don't panic... But a spot of running wouldn't be amiss!" Hagrid bellowed as he started chasing dogs that were running in every direction.  
  
Draco didn't need to be told twice. He grabbed Ginny's hand and made for the hut, but was cut off by several off the dogs. In between bouts of swearing, he muttered, "Apparently, age does not equal wisdom. Damn Creevey still doesn't know when to put the camera away."  
  
"Malfoy! Malfoy, let go!" Ginny was gasping for breath. "I need to go find my puppy."  
  
"You really are an idiot, aren't you, Weasel?" Another dog appeared behind them and snarled. Draco didn't even bother thinking, just picked up Ginny and started running again. "Take your shoes off."  
  
Spluttering, Ginny said, "What are you on about now?" He was fumbling with the ribbons holding her shoes on while still running, and she marveled at the amount of coordination he had, not to mention strength.  
  
"You can't run in those damn things, so take them off. I can't carry you indefinitely." His breath was in her ear and she tried to shut down the tiny voice in the back of her head that was pointing out the pleasantness of it. She shook it off and reached down to take her shoes off. As soon as the second one left her foot, he put her down.  
  
"Oh, my sodding hero." Her glare might have been effective if he hadn't started running again as soon as he'd put her down.  
  
He turned his head to look at where she was running beside him. "I think you've mistaken me for a Gryffindor. Come on, up a tree." Considering she could feel one of the dogs panting behind her, she didn't argue, just took his hand and swung up to the first branch. It didn't take long until they were both sitting high up in the branches, looking down at one of the larger dogs, who was circling the tree and showed no signs of leaving.  
  
"Maybe I should reconsider the no dating thing. There are advantages to being bored." Draco snorted at Ginny's plaintive tone, then laughed outright when she continued. "My stockings are shredded, I hope you know. And those shoes cost more than a solid gold cauldron."  
  
"Only a Weasley would be worried about the cost of a pair of shoes when confronting a stampede of hellhounds." He could feel the heat of her glare and was thankful that circumstances were such that he wasn't within kicking range.  
  
"You know that I'll have vengeance for that when we get down, right?" Ginny's tone was pleasant, but Draco winced, knowing the threat was very serious. "Anyway, since we seem to have some time to chat... Why aren't you dating? It's been eons since your divorce and you spend all your time hanging out with me."  
  
Draco felt offended. "Are you implying that you don't enjoy thrashing me soundly at video games?"  
  
"I do tend to kick your arse, don't I? But that's not the point." Ginny swung her legs idly from the branch she was sitting on. "The point is, you've let that harpy influence you for far too long. I want you to be happy, Malfoy."  
  
"Happiness is not having to deal with picking up random women and having the urge to throttle them within half an hour because of their utter incapacity of saying anything sensible." Draco broke a twig off the branch above him and tossed it down at the dog's middle head. "I could just go out and get laid, but what's the point? At least with my hand I don't have to buy dinner or call the next day."  
  
Ginny growled. "Draco Malfoy, there are plenty of intelligent women out there, and I'll remind you that the last time you implied otherwise, I didn't speak to you for six months."  
  
Draco wobbled as he avoided the stick she threw at him. "Name two."  
  
"Me and Hermione." She giggled and stuck out her tongue at him, which made him roll his eyes.  
  
"And if I were to approach either of you, your brother would decorate the Burrow with my entrails." He shook his head ruefully. "Not to mention that Granger's not what I call sexy, and you know too many of my awful habits."  
  
Ginny laughed. "Yeah, I guess I do. Although I did have a crush on you at one point."  
  
Draco almost fell out of the tree. "You did? Tell me all about it, wench."  
  
"It was your third year, the quidditch match against Gryffindor. You came out in those green robes and looked distinctly edible." Before Draco could fully preen, she continued, "Of course, it lasted all of two minutes. Then Oliver Wood came out, and you were forgotten."  
  
"WOOD?" Draco's bellow made the leaves shake and the dog that was still pacing under the tree sit down and howl. Ginny laughed as he grumbled, "Oliver bloody Wood, I ask you."  
  
"Well, he was truly hot, with a capital yum. Those muscles, and that accent, and..." Ginny broke off in a shiver. "I wonder if he's still single?"  
  
Draco seriously contemplated tossing her off her branch. "I thought you weren't dating?"  
  
"Exceptions can be made," she said primly. "Anyway, back to you. You want a woman who is intelligent, good looking, what else?"  
  
"Tall. Not fat, but not one of these women that diet to the point of emaciation and think it's attractive. Understands what bumphing is, and can recognize a Wronski feint. She's got to have a sense of humor, too. Nice, but not too nice. She should be good with kids, because I don't want my kids palmed off on a nanny once I have them, but she should also be able to be a great hostess on formal occasions." He stopped and gave Ginny a wink. "And she should be dead sexy, willing to push the dishes off the table and fuck like wild animals."  
  
Ginny felt unaccountably grumpy. "And after she descends from the heavens and turns water into wine, this paragon is supposed to want to date YOU? Hah!"  
  
Draco gave her his best come-hither smile, which she did her best to ignore. "Are you questioning the Slytherin Sex God?" After she rolled her eyes, he said amiably, "So what is it you want in a man? Besides making you forget about the bloody news."  
  
"Hmm. There is that..." She looked thoughtful. "He should have enough money so that I don't end up stuck with the check every time. Not expect me to laugh if his jokes aren't funny. Either taller than me or secure enough with being shorter that I can wear heels without offending his masculine ego. And he should be able to play in a pickup game of quidditch if and when we go to the Burrow."  
  
"What, no requirements as to--"  
  
"Don't finish that sentence." Ginny looked down and sighed. "I wonder how long we'll be stuck here. I wanted to see Parvati, and Dean, and maybe flirt a bit. Have some /fun/."  
  
Draco grunted. "Oh, I like that. What do I have to do, start a bloody singalong for your entertainment?"  
  
Ginny's eyes lit up. "Malfoy, I could kiss you! You're brilliant."  
  
Draco idly tossed a stick down and watched as the three heads fought for it, reducing it to splinters. "You've obviously never heard me sing."  
  
"Come off it, I know you sing in the shower. And while drunk." Ginny snickered, but continued, "No, don't you remember what Hagrid said? Music calms them down."  
  
A grin split Draco's face. "Why didn't you say so before?" The grin faded and died as he found his pockets to be completely wand-free. "Bloody hell. You wouldn't have your wand, would you? What am I saying, of course you don't. Not in that dress."  
  
"Never underestimate a Weasley, Malfoy." Ginny's smug face was swiftly illuminated by a glow from her wand. "So now what?"  
  
His eyes went over every inch of her, with special attention to the inches covered by her dress. "Where on earth did you have that hidden?"  
  
"Let's just say suspender belts are multi purpose garments and get on with whatever brilliant plan your little Slytherin brain has conjured up for getting past this beastie." It took ten minutes for Ginny to learn the invisible orchestra spell. Within one minute of her casting it successfully, the dog was asleep and Draco and Ginny had made their cautious way to the ground.  
  
"Come here, I need you for balance." Draco stood patiently while Ginny held a hand against him and used the other one to roll down her stockings. "We can use these for a leash."  
  
Grumbling, Draco complied. "So what now? We go find someone for you to flirt with?"  
  
"Nah, then I'd have to put my shoes back on. Let's go get my puppy and then we can go home and play Grand Theft Auto." Ginny grinned impishly as she led the docile beast back to its enclosure.  
  
(Next chapter'll be up soon. :) I'm writing out the last chapter of this fic, and it'll all get posted before OotP comes out. Viva la D/G!) 


	6. Double Blind Date

Double-blind Date. Ginny and Draco each bring a friend to be the  
  
date to the other (as in that famous movie we won't mention because  
  
we don't do challenges based on movies).  
  
Required item: The date Ginny brings for Draco must be a Mary-Sue!  
  
Required phrase: `I didn't know you were such a cute baby!'  
  
"So if zis man is so 'andsome, why do you not want him?" Etoile Delacour peered at her new friend suspiciously. They'd been working together for two weeks, and had bonded over croissants and heavily sugared coffee.  
  
"Draco Malfoy's been my best friend for ten years. It'd be too weird to date him." Ginny shrugged, not noticing the small start the part-veela girl gave. "But you'd like him, you really would. He's smart and funny and really great once you get to know him a bit."  
  
Etoile looked carefully at Ginny, whose face was slightly turned away, eyes on the ground. "If it ees a double date, I go."  
  
Ginny smiled, perhaps a bit too brilliantly. "Great! Malfoy was threatening to set me up with someone, so we'll just do it at the same time. Go to dinner or something."  
  
"So, you call, make the arrangements. Just do not tell him my name, oui? I... Do not want to be compared with my cousin, Fleur, until I have met him." If Ginny thought this condition was odd, she didn't show it, just nodding and scurrying off to let Malfoy know via floo.  
  
The instant Ginny broke the floo connection, Draco cursed and threw a glass paperweight at the opposite wall. It was bad enough to have set up a date between Ginny, who was now starring in some decidedly unplatonic dreams of his, and bloody Oliver Wood. Now he had to sit across the table from them and watch them flirt. The promise of a date with mile long legs, hair down to her waist, and violet eyes was only slightly mollifying.  
  
It was irritating beyond belief. Ten years, ten bloody, endless years, and six years of school before that, and he hadn't thought of her as a girl once. Then one random comment and it was like flicking on the switch for his muggle games; once it was on, it was on. But he couldn't do anything about it, because the instant that she thought he wanted her, that would mark the end of their friendship. He couldn't risk that, so he needed to flip the switch the other way, go back to thinking of her as just his pal, devoid of gender and certainly not a gorgeous woman that he lusted after. That's why he had tracked down Wood and arranged through a mutual acquaintance to set him up with Ginny. He'd been okay when she dated all those other prats. If she got involved with someone, then he would stop thinking about her in ways he shouldn't.  
  
Right.  
  
So, he'd make it through the date, maybe hit it off with his date, and things would go back to normal. And now that that was settled, he could concentrate on something important. Nodding firmly in affirmation of his thoughts, Draco picked up the controller and focussed on making it past the boss of that level.  
  
The evening of the big date arrived, and they had all agreed to meet at Speakeasy, a supper club with a roaring twenties theme. Etoile had insisted on getting ready together, and so the two girls were already giggly by the time they got to the club. All heads turned to look at them when they entered, and Ginny laughed. "I need to go out to clubs with you more often. I've never gotten this much attention in my life."  
  
"Geeny, you are too modest. It is ze both of us gaining ze attention." Etoile tossed her head and her blonde hair rippled like a waterfall. Her violet eyes sparkled as she looked over the room, completely ignoring the intent stares of all the males in the room.  
  
"You realize that, if I didn't like you so much, I would hate you with every fiber of my being, right?" Ginny tried to look fierce, but couldn't hold it long in the face of her friend's giggles. She was stretching to peer further into the club when she felt lips on her neck. "Malfoy! What have I told you about saying hello?"  
  
"I don't know, I wasn't listening." Draco grinned devilishly and tweaked her nose.  
  
Ginny rolled her eyes, but was unable to completely suppress the smile that had crept up on her face. "Ignore him right now, Etoile, he's only like this around me. I swear, he really can be charming."  
  
The blonde girl nodded, her glorious amethyst eyes dancing. "Non, I find him very charming now."  
  
"Etoile Delacour, you haven't found me charming since I refused to ruin your best dress." Draco lifted her hand to his lips, then led her and a very confused looking Ginny to a table.  
  
"You two know each other?" It was a stupid question, but Ginny was feeling off her stride.  
  
Etoile's laugh was silvery, and made everyone who heard it smile. "Oui! Draco and I are cousins. His muzzer is part veela, like me."  
  
"Huh. And all this time I thought he bleached." Ginny smirked as Draco choked on his cocktail. "So what was the deal with ruining your dress?"  
  
"Ginny! There you are... Oh, hullo, Malfoy." The three of them looked up to see a familiar man threading through the crowds to join them at their table.  
  
"And who is thees lovely flame haired gentleman?" Etoile turned the full force of her part veela charm on him, but Percy Weasley only blushed faintly.  
  
"Um, I'm just Ginny's brother, no one special." Percy bowed awkwardly before clearing his throat. "Hello, Gin. Um, Oliver got pummeled in a match today, so he couldn't be here. He sent me to make his apologies and say some flattering things which prove he doesn't know you very well at all."  
  
Ginny and Malfoy laughed, while Etoile looked over him closely. "Oh, well, Perce, you might as well sit down, take a break from cauldron bottoms and systems of measurement." Ginny brushed a kiss on her brother's cheek as she shoved him into the chair next to her. "I couldn't ask for a better date, anyway."  
  
"You are P. Weasley? I wondered if Geeny was a relation, but I 'ad not been able to ask." Etoile's smile seemed different somehow, and Ginny looked at her quizzically while Malfoy ordered for all of them. Etoile leaned in towards Percy, pushing back some of the strands of silvery blonde hair that fell forwards, and said breathily, "Your report on the use of alloys and the proportions necessary for labeling was... How you say? Magnifique!"  
  
"Good lord." Malfoy looked horrified. "Can't you drag out my bloody baby pictures or put me in thumbscrews or something less painful?"  
  
Etoile frowned, the furrow in her perfect brow somehow making her even more beautiful. "If you wish..." Opening the small purse she carried, she pulled out a small leather object that looked like a billfold, then touched it briefly with her wand. "See, Geeny, zis is when zis 'orrible boy refused to ruin my dress and save me."  
  
"Awww, Malfoy, you were so adorable! What happened?" Ginny winked as she looked at the photograph of a tiny version of Malfoy, in formal robes, bow tie and white gloves, his hair parted in the middle and slicked down to the sides, dragging a pouting young Etoile onto a dance floor.  
  
"Silly bint wanted to read during dance class with her mother watching." Draco smiled lazily and tapped the picture with his wand, flipping to the next one, which showed two stunning blonde women standing next to each other. "I'd have helped, but my mother was there, too, and I would've had to run away from home if she caught me behaving in any way that wasn't gentlemanly."  
  
Percy laughed. "Our mother was a tartar about dance lessons, but Gin here had a bit more pity on her nearest and dearest." He pulled out his own billfold-album and started tapping it. "She'd always feel the need to shriek 'Watch me, Mummy!' whenever I was in danger of being caught with a book in hand."  
  
Without ceremony, Draco reached over and pulled the album, currently displaying a baby Ginny naked on a bear skin rug, out of Percy's hands. "Why, Weasel, I didn't know you were such a cute baby! Of course, you'd probably be cuter if you posed for this photo now."  
  
Percy scowled, Etoile laughed, and Ginny punched Draco in the arm before turning to Etoile. "So what was that you were saying about Perfect Percy, former Head Boy, being magnifique?"  
  
Percy rolled his eyes. Ten years had given him a lot of time to get over some of his self importance, although only death would stop him from taking his work extremely seriously. Etoile, however, seized on the subject with enthusiasm. "Oh, oui, of course! Eet is so rare to find someone who shows such passion and dedication for something so important!"  
  
Ginny was having trouble hiding her disbelief and Percy was flushing and looking disconcerted, when Draco chimed in with, "Etoile's maternal family makes cauldrons, and she's taking over the family business someday."  
  
"Oui, ze House of Belle Etain has had some difficulties--"  
  
"But they've always kept to the highest standards and used quality materials." Percy and Etoile looked at each other and couldn't seem to break away. The air almost crackled from the intensity.  
  
Ginny sighed and stood up. "Come on, ferret. Let's go see if those dance lessons stuck with us." They took the floor silently, moving smoothly into a waltz.  
  
"Has anyone ever told you that you're a horrible matchmaker?" Draco broke the silence after they'd danced for a few moments.  
  
"Oh, and you did better? At least your date wasn't a sibling." Ginny reached up and tugged the hair on the back of his neck. She leaned her face on his shoulder and peeked back at the table, where Percy and Etoile were now so close together that oxygen molecules would have trouble fitting in between them.  
  
The music shifted to a tango and they glanced at each other, a spark of mischief glinting between them. Ginny's face turned haughty and Draco's expression was best described as 'smoldering' as they each brought their bodies up, spines taut, their eyes locked together. Ginny tossed her hair and turned away, only to be stopped by his hand on her arm. He twirled her around until her body was pressed against his, her leg moving up to circle his. A feral smile curled her lips and met a raised eyebrow as they stalked all over the dance floor, playing out in full the dance's ritual of seduction and disdain.  
  
Eventually the dance ended, with Ginny arched over backwards and Draco's mouth hovering above her exposed throat. The band was going on break, so there was no more music, just the clapping of the diners who had watched them dance. Gracefully, Draco put her on her feet and swept a grand bow at the audience before steering her back to the table.  
  
Percy and Etoile were still wrapped up in each other, but the food had arrived, so Ginny had an excuse to avoid Draco's eyes. It had been a dance, just a dance. If her pulse was racing and her skin felt hot, well, it was because of the physical exertion. The last thing in the world she needed was to be attracted to the one person in the world who she could talk to about anything. Who would she talk to about it? She stabbed viciously at her food and scowled.  
  
"It's already dead, Weasel." Draco's breath was in her ear and only iron clad self control kept her from shivering. "Does dancing always make you cranky?"  
  
"I've just... I've got a headache." Percy and Etoile finally looked away from each other to look at her with concern. "I think I'd better get home before it turns into a migraine."  
  
Ginny waved off the protestations of the others. "No, don't worry about it, I'll be fine. You stay and have fun." She gave Etoile a weak smile. "You just concentrate on what you're going to do with my brother now that you've got him completely smitten with you."  
  
She was halfway to the door when she felt a familiar hand close around her arm. "Come on, Weasley, let's get you home."  
  
"Malfoy, I just want to go home and go to sleep. Stay, have fun." She managed a creditable smirk. "Find a girl with octopus hands."  
  
He looked into her eyes, then shrugged and kissed her forehead. "Call me in the morning to let me know you're okay, then." He smiled and she thought the tightening in her chest was really uncalled for. Muttering a goodbye, she scurried away to go and sleep off whatever strange effect he was having on her. 


	7. Home Alone

†Home Alone. One of the two house-sits for the other. (Does someone   
come a'knockin?)  
Required item: A fuschia-coloured lipstick.  
Required phrase: `I bet not even Moody is that paranoid!'   
  


Six months later:

"Don't forget to put up the wards."  Ginny managed to look stern despite wearing a ridiculous bobbled hat and mittens.  "And make sure all the doors are locked the muggle way, too."

"And I suppose I should also conjure a bloody moat around your bloody house."  Draco's patience was wearing thin.  

  
Ginny looked as if she was considering it, then shook her head.  "The neighbors would never stand for it.  But that reminds me, be careful if you go outside.  There's a couple of traps in the lawn.  And don't disapparate out without a plan to get back in."  

The last thread of his patience snapped.  "Honestly, Weasley, I bet not even Moody is that paranoid!"

"Moody does not have a vengeful Fred and George after him.  And Ron would probably help them, the lousy wanker."  Ginny scowled, then reached up and kissed his cheek.  "Anyway, I'm late.  I'm not sure what time I'll get back, so thanks for watching the place."

She disapparated before he could say anything further, and so he found himself alone with a three headed mutt which had a doleful expression.  "It only works when she does it, you mangy bastard."

The dog whuffed and turned its back ostentatiously, all three noses firmly in the air.  Draco chuckled and started wandering around.  Ginny usually came to his place, so he'd never really spent any time at the small house she had bought with the profits from her small business.  There were all sorts of muggle things around, but that was part of her work, after all. 

Being alone in Ginny's house led to a great moral dilemma, in which the part of him that knew it would be immoral and unethical to snoop fought valiantly against the part of him that knew this was a golden opportunity that might yield good blackmail results.  This lasted for about ten seconds before he started prowling around, opening drawers and rummaging through them.  

He froze on the threshold of her bedroom, shocked by how different it was from the rest of the house.  Where the rest of the house was a paean to clean lines and neutral colors, her bedroom was all jewel tones and sumptuous looking pillows and sensual fabrics.  He'd never in his life seen a room that more clearly stated that its owner was a hedonist, normally a word he did not associate with Ginny Weasley in the slightest.  "Well, well.  All these years and she's still full of surprises."

There were some framed pictures on her bureau.  He snorted at the one of her as a bride, her dress hitched up as she chased Potter around, laughing and throwing wedding cake at him.  One of her mother and father on their wedding day, looking blissful and unable to keep their hands off each other.  One of his wedding, the photographic version of him forever scuffling with Blaise Zabini.  Nieces and nephews galore, being chased around by harried-looking older Weasleys.  He picked up one of Ginny in a hospital gown holding a newborn and smiled as he watched her rock the baby with an expression of complete adoration on her face.  She'd be a good mother.

Dropping the photo like a hot coal at the thought, he moved on to explore elsewhere.  "Oh, hell no."  The tube of fuschia lipstick that would look absolutely awful on her got dropped into the garbage can with no ceremony.  Apparently she kept her medicine cabinet stocked in case of maladies ranging from broken bones to botched transfigurations, and he chalked that up to the twins' influence.  Just as he was about to get to serious snooping in her bedroom, the doorbell rang and the dog started howling in three part harmony.  

Grumbling, he went to the monitoring equipment and tried to remember what she had said about how to check who was at the door.  He pushed a button and got a horrible screeching as his only reward.  Pushing buttons at random, he got the noise to turn off, but still made no progress on actually identifying the person who was still at the door.  Cursing, he decided to skip Ginny's paranoiac measures and simply open the damn door.

"Malfoy?  I thought this was where Ginny Weasley lives..."  Draco scowled fiercely as he saw who had chosen to grace Ginny's doorstep.

"Wood."  To call Draco's tone friendly would be to call the Sahara damp.  

Oliver Wood squirmed a bit, but persevered.  "So, uh, is Ginny here?"

"No."  Draco moved to shut the door, but Oliver put his foot in the way.

"Do you know when she's supposed to get back?  I'd needed to talk to--"  Something in Draco's expression finally made it through and Oliver swallowed, hard.  "Yes, well, why don't I give her a call tomorrow, then?"

The door slammed behind him, hard, and Draco snarled to himself as he prowled around the house looking for something to do.  Snooping had lost its appeal, given there was a remote possibility he might find out something about that moronic quidditch obsessed troll.  All her video game-related things were at his house, since she'd gotten tired of hauling it over there most nights.  He went to the kitchen and threw open cabinets until he had an enormous bag of crisps and a bottle of scotch, both of which he took with him to sit in front of Ginny's enormous television.

...

The pre-dawn stillness was broken by the shattering of glass.  "Malfoy, you great sodding bastard, get your lazy arse out of bed."

Blearily, trying to avoid the broken glass on the ground, Draco threw open the french doors and leaned over the balcony railing.  "Weasley, you deranged cow, what are you on about, vandalizing my property at an ungodly hour?"

"It's my bloody house, you prat.  Let me in."  Ginny did not sound particularly pleased, and he had the passing thought that draining the bottle while watching strange drawings called "cartoons" all night was not one of his best ideas.  

He stumbled back into the bedroom, grabbed his wand, and then stood at the balcony long enough to say, "Accio Weasel."  Once her feet were solidly on the ground he grunted and turned to crawl back onto the bed.

"That's my bed!  Out!"  The only response was a snore.  "Oh, fuck it."  Yanking all of the sheets off of Draco's prone form, she plopped down beside him and curled up to sleep off the effects of the night.

"Ginny!"  The shout had her shooting upwards, only to go back down again when she tried to open her eyes and the light made it painful.  She'd been asleep, although she wasn't sure how long.  She was in her bed, so that was a plus.  Now to try to remember something after she'd had that last margarita.  Well, besides getting onto a table to dance with a tall beefy man named Sven who was wearing nothing but a blue g-string.  The voice that had shouted at her was saying something else now, in a normal, if amused and pompous, tone. "And did you learn a lesson, young lady?"

"Never trust mixed drinks."  Ginny managed to stand up, holding on to one of the posts of the bed until she could trust her balance.  She ignored the sniggering from the voice that could only be Percy, and thought vaguely that she needed to send Etoile a thank you card for taking some of the starch out of his underpants.  She made it to the bathroom, wincing at the light but persevering in her quest for the life-saving elixir she was sure her medicine cabinet held.  "Oh, bloody buggering hell!"  She was out of hangover potion.

A moan of pain came from her bedroom and she held a hand to her forehead, which she could swear was throbbing.  "Percy?  Is there someone out there besides you?"

"Blond chap.  Not wearing much besides one of your sheets, as far as I can see."  She rolled her eyes and thought maybe Percy had gotten a bit _too_ casual.  "Doing a bit of entertaining, were we?"

"He couldn't have been any good, I don't remember any of it."  Splashing cold water on her face had helped, and she found some Muggle aspirin at the bottom of one of the drawers.  

"I would make clever comments about that, but right now I need a hangover potion too much to take advantage of that opening."  Draco's voice floated past the closed bathroom door just as Ginny was noticing that she was still fully dressed under the comforter she had been wrapped in.  

Breathing a sigh of relief, she made her way out of the bathroom and back towards the bed.  More sleep sounded like a really good idea.  "I'm going back to sleep.  You two prats make sure to lock up when you leave."

Percy rolled his eyes as he repaired the glass in the french doors that had apparently been shattered by a rock.  "No need to ask about the magic while intoxicated incident.  Both of you are alive, so whenever you're capable of it, you can pop down to the Ministry and pay the fine."

"Weasley, if you don't have a hangover potion on you, bugger off."  Under the circumstances, Draco's growl was less than impressive.

Ginny poked him in the side.  "Shove over, bed hog."

"Ginny, I do need to talk to you, urgently."  Percy finished with the door and pulled the sheets off of her face.

Ginny cracked one eye open and glared at him balefully.  "Urgently, someone is on fire, or urgently, there's a too thin cauldron somewhere out there?"

"Urgently, I need to tell my best man something about the bachelor party before the rest of our brothers get to her."  Percy knelt so that he was eye to eye with Ginny.  "Please, Gin?"

"You're the best _man_?"  Draco seemed to find this endlessly amusing, laughing until a sharp elbow to the kidneys made him groan and stumble off to the bathroom.

"All right, Percy."  Ginny sat up and looked at her brother.  "What about the bachelor party?"

Percy fidgeted, his ears turning bright red.  "I, ah, I..."  He pulled himself together and said, with considerable pomposity, "I would prefer if the bachelor party did not take place at a public strip club.  It doesn't convey the kind of image I think is necessary for someone in my position."

"You realize if I don't have strippers, the other boys will take it out on me forever.  Fred and George have already vowed revenge for being passed over."  Ginny looked at his pleading face and relented.  "All right, Percy.  I've got a plan."

He smiled and dropped a kiss on her brow.  "I knew I could count on you.  You really are the best."

She took the praise as her due and waved a hand negligently.  "Just be a love and buy me some hangover potion, will you?  Now, before you go back to work?"

"Enough for two, Weasley, and I won't tell the Weasel's other brothers about this lovely conversation."  Draco came out of the bathroom looking awful, his hair damp and looking a bit like dandelion fluff.

Percy raised a supercilious eyebrow.  "Considering you just woke up in my sister's bed, I don't think your threats of blackmail count for much."

"We need his house for my plan, Percy.  Just go buy the damn potion."  Ginny's hand was fumbling on the nightstand for something to throw and Percy hastily disapparated.

"Nice save, Weasel.  I have mentioned lately that you're a wonderful, caring person, right?"  Draco's voice came from somewhere around the footboard, under the bedspread that he'd found and wrapped around himself.

She nodded, not that he could see the gesture.  "I do need your house, though."  A memory floated to her consciousness and she said, "Did Oliver come by to get those papers he needed?"

"He came by.  Didn't mention papers, just stood there looking as moronic as humanly possible."  Never let it be said a Malfoy told a lie...  When unnecessary.  "Amazing how he's gone to seed since Hogwarts."

Ginny yawned hugely.  "I thought he looked pretty good, but I guess your taste runs more to rough trade."  He moved enough to hit her with a pillow and she snickered as she drifted off to sleep.


	8. Bachelor Party

†Girls/Boys Night Out. A stag/ette or bachelor/ette night, with   
either Ginny or Malfoy. Of course the other can appear...  
Required item: A broken wand.  
Required phrase: ` Hmmm...I didn't think that was edible! '

(Okay, I cheated on this one. It's the planning of the party, not the party itself. I think it still counts.)  
  


Draco Malfoy sat at his desk and attempted to work. He'd been doing fairly well, until he realized he could hear everything that was being said by the gaggle of Weasley women currently occupying the grand ballroom of Malfoy Manor. A smirk settled on his lips as he thought of what Lucius Malfoy's reaction would have been. Apoplexy would only have been the start. Who knows what kind of fits he would have had if he'd known what they were talking about and planning.

"Okay, pole or no pole?" Ginny's voice carried over the chattering of the other women.

He could practically see Granger's nose wrinkling as she said, "Tempting as it is to play up the phallic imagery, I think it'd be a little too..."

"Tacky?" That was Fred's wife, Angelina, always one to get to the point.

One unanimous vote later, and the idea of a pole was dispensed with. "Ginny? What are we going to do about Harry?" Trust Granger to always think of Potter. Draco had come a long way in his dealings with the Gryffindors he most loved to torture at school, but he didn't think he'd ever bring himself to fully like Harry "Perfect" Potter. Or to stop making Ron Weasley turn funny colors, because entertainment like that is priceless.

"Crap. I'd forgotten about him." Ginny sighed and Draco found himself sending out mental 'tell the prat to stay home' rays. "Ugh. I suppose I could do it, but that'd be damn awkward." Awkward? _Awkward?_ Yes, Draco strangling Potter for ogling Ginny might be called 'awkward'.

"I think I have a solution." Thank heavens for George's wife, what's-her-name. "Harry couldn't tear his eyes away from Gabrielle all during the reception for Ron and Hermione."

Little Gabby Delacour? Potter was robbing the cradle? Draco did some mental calculations and realized little Gabby was well above the age of consent. Damn, he was getting old. Fleur was talking, saying, "Oui, and she would not stop telling me about 'ow 'andsome 'e grew up to be." Then again, if the mother of three Weasleys could giggle like that, maybe he wasn't all that old. "Poor Bill was ready to strangle ze girl if she did not stop talking of 'Arry Potter."

"Great! I love matchmaking." Ginny's voice sounded amused and all the women giggled. "Oh, Etoile, before I forget, I needed to talk to you about the menu. I couldn't read one of the appetizers."

There was some rustling of paper and Etoile said, "Oh! Zat says pickled sea urchins braised in white wine and served with Sudanese bile sauce." Draco's face twisted as he made a note to be extremely wary of the food at the wedding reception. Etoile, meanwhile, was responding to the chorus of gagging noises by saying, "No, no, it ees delicious! Ask Geeny, I gave 'er some for a gift."

"Hmmm...I didn't think that was edible! No wonder Snape looked at me oddly when I asked what potions it was used for." 

There was some more general laughter and then the conversation turned to dresses and such, and he tuned it out until Etoile said, "I begin to understand why you and Ron eloped! So much to do!"

He barely heard Hermione say, "Well, there's only so much leeway you can get by saying a baby is premature."

Well, well, well. That should be good for turning Ron Weasley a nice maroon. But Hermione was speaking again. "Never underestimate the potency of Weasley men. I calculate I conceived that first time, on Snape's desk."

"Snape's DESK? SNAPE'S desk? SNAPE'S DESK?" Ginny was shrieking, the other women were laughing, and Draco had a look of unholy glee on his face as he thought of all the torture possibilities in that information.

"Well, it was the alumni night, you remember, Ginny... Everyone seemed to have run outside and, well, we were all alone..." Hermione couldn't seem to continue.

"You mean while I was cowering in a tree, you were banging my brother on Snape's desk?" Ginny sounded outraged.

"Er. Yes?" Draco hadn't known Granger was capable of sounding that squeaky.

"Well." There was silence for a minute, then Ginny snickered. "Good for you. Snape's desk. Good Lord. I think you win the prize for most unusual spot for a bit of how's-your-father."

Once again there was general snickering, which only ended when Charlie's wife said, "Blimey, I'd better dash. The twins'll have Mrs. Uttley in a complete taking by now."

Amidst the general commotion of leave taking, Ginny could be heard saying, "All right, ladies, back here tomorrow to go over choreography and rehearse. Oh, damn, Fleur's gone. Etoile, talk to Gabrielle tonight and bring her tomorrow if she agrees."

"Oui, oui. And sank you, Geeny, for doing zis." Draco tried to keep his eyes from rolling. With all the kissing and hugging going on, you'd think they were never seeing each other again, instead of being in-laws who were plotting together daily. He'd never understand women at all.

Pushing away from his desk, he decided to meander over to the ballroom and see if Ginny was up for a couple of rounds of King of Fighters. The plan was sidetracked when he reached the threshold and saw that she was currently engaged in wriggling around to music. "What on earth are you doing?"

Ginny shrieked and the wand she'd been holding flew at his head. The music stopped, the quill that had been transcribing what she said fell down, and he just barely managed to duck. The wand hit the wall behind him, hard, and shattered into splinters. Sparks shot out from the wreckage and Draco stomped on a carpet that had caught fire. "Good job, Weasel. Maybe for an encore you can make the ceiling collapse."

"It's all your fault, Malfoy," she hissed. "Don't even try to pretend like that would have happened if you hadn't startled me."

"That still doesn't explain what you were doing." He crossed his arms over his chest and gave her his best penetrating gaze. If she got the bit in her teeth about fault, he'd find himself buying her half the stock of Ollivander's. He wasn't sure how she did it. She'd start talking, and he'd try to reason with her, and then somewhere along the line logic got left behind and he found himself agreeing with whatever she said just so that the conversation would end.

She blushed fiercely and mumbled, "I was trying to work out a sexy dance."

"Ah." He knew he was risking life and limb, but he couldn't resist the sneer any more than iron filings can resist being drawn to a magnet. "A bit less flailing might be called for, then."

Ginny rolled her eyes and he was grateful she didn't have anything to throw. "I was flailing because I'd been trying to get the music sorted out and then you snuck up on me and made me break my wand."

He shook his head, then walked over to one of the chairs that had been there for the ladies' conference. Crossing his leg negligently, he said, "Okay, show me what you've got so far."

She sputtered, but before she could get too far into indignation, he said lazily, "Weasley, I _have _seen this sort of thing done before." He brought his own wand out and cast a charm to start playing music. "Let's see what you've got."

She started moving to the music, then stopped to pick up the quill and make some notes. At his snort, she said, "You could leave, you know. I'm still working everything out."

"What's to work out? You pop them onstage, they dance, their husbands club them over the head and drag them back to their caves." He flicked his wand and the quill flew out of her hands. "Just use a camera, or a pensieve. You won't get anything accomplished if you keep stopping to write."

"Fine," she said huffily. "But I'll need to borrow your wand for a minute."

He looked at her suspiciously, but handed it over. She pointed it at one of the chairs and transfigured it into a pretty three paneled screen, black with an enameled chinoserie pattern on it. She nodded, satisfied that it had worked correctly, then ducked behind it and started to transfigure her clothes.

"Do I get my wand back anytime soon, or is it going to get broken in revenge?" Draco was starting to think this had been a very bad idea. 

"Here." She tossed the wand to him over the screen and he caught it easily. "Make the music follow this beat to start, and follow my lead as needed. Slow and smooth at first." 

As he complied, she took a deep breath and composed herself. Was she really about to do a striptease in front of her best pal, Draco Malfoy? What if he got turned on? What if he didn't? And which one did she want? Steeling herself to just think of him as a piece of furniture and to concentrate on working out the dancing so she could teach the others, she started.

Definitely a very, very bad idea. Because the only clothing Ginny had removed thus far was an opera-length glove, and he felt like his body temperature had gone up ten degrees. He cleared his throat, then wished he hadn't, since it gave away some of the nervousness he was feeling. Trying to gather his scattered wits and pretend he was unaffected, he said, "You want to drop your shoulder a bit there, maybe flutter your eyelashes. And your hair should be down, not up in a bun."

"Hmm." Ginny dropped her shoulder, looking at him sultrily. "Like this?"

"Much better." He didn't notice that his voice was somewhat husky, but she did. The smile she gave him wasn't intended to look like it was promising cool sheets and warm kisses and long, slow, drugging caresses, but it took his breath away. With a flourish, the strapless, floor-length gown she was wearing came off, and she strutted towards him.

Her skin seemed to glow, the paleness of it seeming flawless in contrast with the black satin bra and panties she wore. She was still wearing black stockings and high heels, and she was inches away. "This is the point where the husbands will have recognized their strippers, I think."

She reached up and did something that released her hair to tumble around her shoulders and down her back, and any chance that he had had of keeping his hands to himself was gone. He couldn't even gather enough thoughts to form words, and if asked he wouldn't have been able to state with any surety what his own name was. All he was focused on was kissing the red haired temptress that he had pulled onto his lap.

Ginny had obviously been doing something very wrong for very many years. That was the only explanation for why she felt more electricity from straddling Malfoy's clothed lap and kissing him frantically than she had during the best sex she could remember having. His hands were on her back, moving lightly over her bare skin before pulling her even closer, crushing her against him. She whimpered and he released her just enough to move his kisses, along her cheekbone, down her jawline, his teeth nipping at her earlobe before sliding down her throat in a symphony of heat and wetness and breathlessness.

She was tugging at his clothes and he was going insane, completely out of his mind, because all he wanted to do was to help her tear his clothes off, but he couldn't stop himself from kissing her long enough to do so. Her skin seemed to burn under his hands, and he welcomed the fire, reveled in it and wished for it never to end. The noises she was making seemed to go straight to his nerve endings, taking his breath away completely. And, Merlin, if she didn't stop grinding herself against him, he was going to explode.

Draco's face was buried in her breasts when there was a sharp gasp that didn't originate from either of the two. "Malfoy! What the hell do you think you're doing to my sister?"

Before Draco could pull himself together enough to be capable of speech, Ginny had leapt off of his lap and pulled the shirt she had finally taken off of him around herself. "You leave him alone, Ron Weasley. This was all my fault for attacking him." She stared at Ron and then at Draco with an expression of horror and then mumbled, "I've got to go." Taking some floo powder from the bowl on the mantle, she shouted "home" and disappeared.

To say that Draco was angry would be like saying that Noah enjoyed boating and caring for animals; True enough as far as it goes, but definitely not the whole story. This is probably why, when Ron said, "You realize I still have to hit you," Draco stood up and punched him in the jaw, hard. 

After a brief exchange of blows, the two combatants seemed to both realize at once that there was something stupid about the fight, and it stopped with as little ceremony as it had started. As he rubbed his jaw, Ron said curiously, "So when did you realize you're completely in love with my sister?"

"What the bloody hell are you nattering about?" Draco snarled, dabbing at his split lip with a handkerchief. 

"Malfoy, you were trying to remove her brassiere with your teeth." Ron shuddered. "Much as I'd like to forget the image, it was fairly unmistakable."

The Malfoy sneer lost a little of its effect when executed with puffy and bleeding lips. "Weasley, I would have thought someone as old as you are would have learned by now what lust is."

"And everyone said /I/ was thick. At least I knew how I felt." Draco tried to stomp out while Ron was rolling his eyes, but Ron blocked his way. "Look, Malfoy, I don't like you all that much, and I don't think I ever will, but since Ginny can't be convinced you're not worth her time, I'm going to help you out."

Draco sputtered, but Ron succeeded in shoving the blonde into a chair. "You want to sleep with my sister, right? Why?"

"She happens to be an attractive woman and it's been a long time." Draco shrugged. "I can go into more detail, if you like."

"I can knock your teeth in, if you like." Despite the threat being very real, Ron grinned and shook his head. "Look here." He brought out his billfold photo album and flipped to the section with pictures of Ginny before handing it to Malfoy.

Draco gave it a cursory glance before scowling at Ron. "That's from seventh year at Hogwarts. So?"

"So, look at Ginny. Pretty, isn't she? But you didn't try to hit on her then." Ron took back the album and flipped through several more photos. "And then here she is at her wedding... And here she is at yours... And here's one from when she insisted you had to come along to the big Weasley reunion at the seaside... What do you see?"

Draco stared at the picture and remembered how he and Ginny had laughed and horsed around while building sandcastles. Somehow at the time he'd managed to completely overlook the way she filled out a bikini. Irritated for no particular reason he could name, he shoved the album back at Ron. "Too many freckles. What's your point?"

Ron shrugged. "Just think about it, Malfoy. What's love supposed to be all about, anyway?"

"Hearts and flowers and balloons and all sorts of mawkish, treacly sentimentality." Draco managed a creditable sneer this time. "Now, is there a reason why you're trespassing in my house, Weasley?"

"Hermione left her purse and didn't feel up to going through the floo again." Ron shrugged and picked up the neglected purse, then turned one last time to Draco. "Look, this might be a waste of breath, because you seem to be completely determined to be thicker than two short planks, but... Pay attention at the wedding. Listen to what's actually promised." He was gone before Draco could come up with a retort, and so Draco had to settle for kicking a chair across the room and cursing the day he'd first heard the name Weasley.

...

The day of the wedding was gorgeous. The groom and his brothers looked somewhat shell-shocked, in a pleased kind of way, while the bride and her sisters-in-law all looked somewhat smug. All the information anyone could get as to why, however, was that the bachelor party the night before had gone very well indeed. Ginny seemed to be everywhere at once, fielding questions and handling all of the last minute details, including keeping the rest of her brothers from tormenting the groom. Draco thought she'd never been more beautiful.

Her dress had obviously been custom-made for the occasion. The halter top mimicked the lines of a tuxedo, including the traditional lapels, but left her shoulders and upper back bare. The waistline was tailored like a double breasted suit, but flowed easily into a skirt which flared to a small train at the bottom. Her hair gleamed in the candlelight as she finally took her place at the altar, besides a flushed and excited-looking Percy.

The wedding march sounded and all eyes turned to watch as the bride came up the aisle. Etoile was the epitome of the perfect bride, her dress flawless and yet still seemingly modest and charming. The bridesmaids were all blushing and radiant, and one of them was looking Draco over with blatant admiration. He shook his head slightly, declining the invitation in her eyes, and wondered why it was that the beautiful girl didn't stir a single spark of interest in him. His hand tightened on the envelope he had been slipped before the ceremony started, and he twitched with impatience for the processional to be over so he could read it without seeming rude.

"Dearly beloved..." As soon as those words were said, he tore open the envelope and pulled out a short letter and another sealed envelope. 

"Dear Ferret:

I have a dilemma I need my best friend for. You see, I think I might have screwed up one of the best and most constant things in my life by letting my instincts get out of control. He's one of the most important people in the world to me, and I'd hate to lose him over something like this, even if it felt incredibly good. I was so scared, I ran away, which, if I know him at all, and I do, probably bollocked things up even more. 

I know what you're going to say. You're going to say I should talk to the git and see what he thinks. Well, I suppose I should. Maybe I'll send him a letter.

Weasel"

He smiled, just a lazy curve of the lips to indicate the release of some of the pressure inside his chest. Then something in the ceremony caught his attention and he listened intently. 

"Do you take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife, to love, honor and cherish her, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, for richer or poorer, forsaking all others, as long as you both shall live?"

In sickness and in health... They'd certainly been through that. He remembered being in bed with the worst flu he'd ever had, and how she stayed with him through it all, babying him within an inch of his life. Or when she'd broken her leg and acted like a complete grouch when he insisted on carrying her around rather than letting her fool with crutches. Richer or poorer? His money didn't matter to her, and never had. And he'd liked her well before she had made herself considerably richer by starting a business and doing well with it. Forsaking all others? He'd been faithful to Tabitha, but he'd still looked at other women with desire. Only now his mind was so full of Ginny Weasley that he didn't feel a flicker of interest in anyone else. So what was the difference between the love that was promised in the vow and what he was feeling for Ginny?

"With this ring, I thee wed, with my body, I thee worship, and with all my worldly goods I thee endow." Ginny had taken a step back after presenting the minister with the rings, and Draco couldn't tear his eyes away from her. Tabitha had insisted on writing their own vows, and he had just recited something the wedding planner had come up with. When he married Ginny, they'd... 

He jumped in his chair, thankfully not enough to attract a great deal of attention. Why had he just thought that? But he could see it, Ginny looking radiant with her family all around her, him holding her hand and slipping a ring on her finger as he promised to worship her with his body and she blushed. He could see them dancing together, laughing, frolicking on a beach while their children built sandcastles. And he wanted that, with a ferocity that burned through him, leaving behind the ashes of his old self. Now all he had to do was convince her.

He looked again at the letter in his hand and opened the second envelope. 

"Dear Draco Malfoy:

You are cordially invited to sneak out of the reception and go on a small date with the best man. Meet me at the car park after the toast if you're interested.

Ginny Weasley"

He grinned. As a first step towards sweeping her off her feet, a date she initiated would do nicely.

Author's Note: At last, the promised D/G action! Next chapter's the last one. Please review if you like; I happen to like this fic, but it doesn't seem to get all that many comments... Even if it did net me a new buddy, the spiffy Thalia.


	9. Muggle London

(In the last chapter, Ginny had slipped Draco the note well before the ceremony started, but she was too busy to stay and talk, and Draco had to be polite and pretend to be interested in talking to the people around him instead of tearing open a letter. Plus, well, I wanted him to read it during the ceremony, and being the author means I get my way. ;) In case any of you wondered, you can see my mental image of what they look like as grownups at h t t p : / / mynuet. tripod. com / friends-draco. jpg and friends-ginny.jpg - I'd take out the stupid spaces, but then ff.net would make it disappear. And now, on with the last chapter!)

**WARNING: While technically not getting into more detail than 10pm+ tv or a lot of R movies, this last chapter does have people engaging in the -horizontal- tango. If this is a problem, run away when the required phrase is said. This is your only warning.

Muggle London. Ginny and Draco make an excursion into Muggle London (featuring Ginny's favourite movie? Or maybe Draco's?)  
Required item: A hot dog.  
Required phrase: `This is a seat belt, not a chastity belt!'

"To my brother Percy, who takes international magical cooperation very seriously indeed, and to my new sister Etoile, my greatest matchmaking failure, I wish long life and great happiness." Ginny lifted the glass of champagne to her lips as the room broke into applause and good natured laughter. Her eyes met Draco's and she smiled slightly before leaning down to whisper in Percy's ear. A moment later she had slipped away, and Draco detached himself from listening to one of the Delacours butcher the English language in order to follow.

He found her in a small ante-room near the restrooms. She looked him over and executed a perfect Malfoy smirk. "I know I'm the one who asked for a date, Malfoy, but you didn't really have to show up in a dress."

"Bite your tongue, heathen. A Malfoy would no sooner arrive at a formal family occasion in muggle clothes than they would wear underpants on their head whilst singing 'God Save the Queen'." Draco fastidiously straightened the sleeves of the dress robes that had been impeccably tailored for him.

"Ah, I see someone has forgotten that night he tried tequila for the first time." Ginny snickered and handed him a bundle of clothing. "We're going into muggle London, so you'll need to change. I'll meet you outside with the car."

Draco slipped into the clothes provided, slacks and an oxford shirt, and wondered what it was she had planned. It wasn't something ultra casual, or she'd have put him in jeans, but it couldn't be anything too formal if she hadn't provided him with a tie and jacket. That she was still unpredictable after all these years was one of the things he loved best about her. Now to dazzle her with every ounce of the Malfoy charm. He grinned at his reflection and swaggered out to the car.

Ginny swallowed hard as she watched him walk towards where she waited at the wheel of her beloved convertible. He knew how good he looked, but damn if that helped her stop drooling. But no, she needed to concentrate. Woo him. Jumping his bones the instant he came into reach was not exactly the way to find out whether there were options besides the strictly platonic or the boff-and-go. Especially since she still wasn't sure which one she'd choose. 

"And where are we off to, my dear Weasley?" He grinned as he slid into the passenger seat, putting a distinct weight on the side voting for immediate hormone gratification. "As the girl, you realize my only duty is to sit back and look pretty, right?" Damn, he had to be funny. Now there was an equal weight on the stay-friends side.

"Dinner and a movie's fairly standard, isn't it?" Ginny winked as she steered the car out of the parking lot, and Draco felt a bit relieved that he wasn't the one who had to concentrate enough to drive. Not when she was still wearing the top of the gown she'd worn, only matched with a skirt so mini that it barely missed being classified as a belt. /Focus, Draco my lad,/ he thought. /You're being charming, suave, witty. Licking the back of her knees will have to wait until later./

Both were caught up in their thoughts, and conversation during the drive was fairly stilted, when it happened at all. They pulled up to a restaurant and Ginny made a production of walking around the car to open his door, which broke the odd sort of tension that had been building. They were laughing with each other again as they entered the restaurant and were seated fairly quickly. 

As they were looking over their menus, Ginny felt an imp of mischief take over her tongue. Before she quite knew what she was about to say, she had said, "You realize, of course, that if you order the lobster, I'll expect you to put out."

For his grin to be any broader, he would have had to have more face prosthetically attached. "Well, I was considering the prime rib, but I do believe I feel a sudden craving for lobster."

"You're going to be one of those high maintenance dates, aren't you? Swilling caviar while I subsist on a hot dog and beans on toast." Ginny sighed theatrically, which Draco thought was a wonderful thing in conjunction with the already obvious benefits of a halter top.

"Of course not." He put down the menu and gave her his best imitation of affronted dignity. "I would also need crème fraiche and toast points, so you'd have to eat your beans directly out of the tin."

"Oh, of course. How silly of me not to realize." The joking continued in this vein throughout their dinner, very much like their normal conversations, just with a flirtatious element added. Draco thought smugly that things were going exactly as he wanted them to. Ginny, however, was somewhat scared by just how much she liked it. She had the sinking feeling in her stomach that dating anyone else wouldn't just be boring, it'd be stultifying to the point of suicide.

When they couldn't linger any longer over coffee, they walked out to the car park. Once they had slid into their seats and buckled their belts, Ginny turned to Draco with a bright smile and said, "So, my fair Malfoy, what kind of movie does your girlish heart desire?"

"We could watch a horror film, so that you cling to me in terror." Before she could retort, he shook his head. "No, terror isn't a good look for you, and I rather hope I'll need feeling in my hands for later."

"It all depends on what you make me sit through, Ferret." Ginny dipped her head and shot him an arch look from under her lashes, and he couldn't resist any longer, couldn't resist the way her lips were drawn up into that little pout she always got when she was deliberately being cute, couldn't resist the eyes that were dancing with laughter that he'd helped create.

"What if I make you sit through this?" And he kissed her, leaning over to brush her hair away from her face as his lips covered hers. He pulled away after a moment, trying to judge her reaction despite the handicaps of low lighting and her impassive face.

She was quiet for long enough to give him time to panic, form a new plan, panic again, rework the plan, embellish it, calculate how best to implement it, and come up with several contingency based alternatives. Of course, he was a Slytherin, so in objective terms it was probably no more than a few seconds before she said, "Screw the witty reply thing," and drew his head back towards hers.

Several frantic seconds later, her breathless and somewhat irritated voice could be heard saying, "Bloody hell, Malfoy, this is a seat belt, not a chastity belt."

"You can't prove it by me," he snarled.

The next thing she knew, London and the car park had disappeared, as had her car. Any protest over this, however, was cut short as she was tackled by over six feet of rapidly undressing male. His wand hit the floor along with his shirt, his shoes were a distant memory, and his pants were unzipped and riding low when his hands moved to her back and started roaming over her, his lips fused to hers as he kissed her intently, thoroughly. 

They moved backwards until she was pressed against something, possibly a bedpost, and his lips and teeth and tongue were moving up and down her neck and her hands were on him, anywhere and everywhere, roaming his skin as if it would disappear if she didn't memorize its texture with her fingertips. "God, how does this blasted thing come off?"

She reached back to work the zipper of her bodice as he knelt in front of her, pressing kisses onto her thighs as he pushed her skirt down. She made a whimpering noise in the back of her throat and fumbled the zipper, and then he smiled up at her devilishly and she heard cloth tear as she ripped the zipper out entirely, pulling the halter top from around her neck and sending it flying just as his breath hovered over the crux of her thighs and his fingers slipped into the sides of her knickers and pulled them down. 

He pressed a kiss to the soft curls of her sex and she growled, actually growled, reaching a hand out to grab his hair and force him to look up at her. "Later." She leaned over to kiss him, her breasts pressing against his shoulders as she ravaged his mouth. After a few seconds she moved to bite his ear, gently, and whispered, "Fuck me now. Do that later."

Never one to need to be asked twice, Draco stood up, gracefully shedding his pants before picking her up by the waist and tossing her on the bed. Her squawk of protest was short lived as he climbed in after her, crawling over her and kissing along his trail, so that she was moaning and gasping by the time he reached her mouth. She spread her legs as far as she could and reached between their bodies to run her hand down his length before guiding him in. He bit down on his lip as he slid in and then exhaled harshly, his eyes boring into hers as if preparing for an interrogation. 

Apparently her half-closed lids and gasps of pleasure were answer enough and he started to move, slowly, his mouth never still as he kissed her cheek, her eyelids, her temple, her ear and neck and shoulder, occasionally taking a small bite and then soothing it with his tongue. Her hands moved over his back and shoulders restlessly, pulling him towards her in a way that was greedy and welcoming and loving, all at once.

"Oh, God, Draco, harder or I'll kill you." Ginny's nails dug into his back, her feet braced against the bed for leverage as she met his thrusts. 

He groaned and picked up her legs, folding them so her knees draped over his arms and he thrust into her harder, wildly, deeply, his breath harsh as he almost seemed to chant her name, over and over, a prayer and benediction and pleading as she moved her legs to wrap around his waist and flexed around him. He could hear her, feel her, and he knew she was close, oh God, so close, and he held on and held on and he heard her shriek, a small, hiccuped mewling sound and he couldn't stop, he couldn't, and he poured himself into her, her name almost a sob as he collapsed onto her, not sure if he'd said out loud or just in his head, "I love you, Ginny."

It must have been out loud, because she mumbled sleepily, "I love you, too, Ferret." Smiling, he nuzzled her shoulder and allowed himself to drift off to sleep.

He wasn't sure how long he'd been out when he felt himself being jabbed in the ribs. "Get off, you elephant! You're on my bladder."

He rolled over and watched her as she scurried in the direction her bathroom would be if she was at home, only to stop and reorient herself once she realized she was in his bedroom at the Manor. He heard the door slam and then water run and smiled contentedly before the nasty thought occurred that he might have dreamed the mutual declaration of love bit, and she might regret what they'd done. Did he? 

Hell, no. Apart from it being the best sex of his life, and he'd had enough to know that damn good sex was a rare and precious thing, let alone the explosive and mind blowing experience that had been Ginny Weasley in bed, he liked Ginny. Not just love, which he'd thought he felt for Tabitha, although love was part of it. He genuinely wanted to spend time with her, hell, he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. And if she didn't feel the same, especially after what they'd just shared? What would he do?

Ginny sat on the commode, letting the water in the sink run as she contemplated the unalterable fact that she was in love with a prat who had a marble commode with a solid gold flush handle. Yes, she was completely top over teakettle bonkers for her best friend, and she wanted the whole nine yards. A wedding and kids and teasing him when he gained a pot belly and having him say she was beautiful even when she was old and wrinkled, and having sex like they'd just had all the time, well, that was by nature of a bonus. And why not? Why the hell shouldn't she grab on with both hands to a man she knew, inside and out, but who still managed to surprise her, to make her laugh, to make her spine threaten to melt into a puddle? 

She turned off the sink, but reached over and turned on the faucet for the tub instead. Once it was going well, she walked back over to the door and cracked it open. "Malfoy? Come scrub my back."

He joined her in the large whirlpool tub, something he'd ordered after seeing an informercial late one night at her house. Of course, he'd had it made by a wizard, and in marble to match the rest of the bathroom. Grabbing a soft, fluffy washcloth, he moved close to her before sitting down and pulling her onto his lap. "So." 

She moved her head to the side as he ran the cloth gently over her shoulders, then down her arms and across her breasts. "A needle pulling thread." She wriggled a bit and he moved his hand away briefly before resuming his ministrations. "Although that's not a needle poking into my bum."

"You know, I have this big speech all prepared about how much I adore you and getting married and having an entire quidditch team's worth of kids, but I can't think of it right now." His brow was furrowed as he looked intently at her tightening nipple, giving it one last pass with the washcloth before he rolled his tongue over it. 

Ginny smirked as she turned to straddle him, sliding him inside her to the accompaniment of his pleased hiss. She bit his neck lightly and then kissed it better before saying, "How about we have sex first, then you see if you can remember any of it, and if I can remember what I was going to say about how much I love you."

His hands moved to her waist, his thumbs brushing the underside of her breasts as he held her up, supporting her as she ground down upon him mercilessly. He groaned and managed to pant, "I'm marrying a smart woman."

"Shut up and fuck, Malfoy."

Fin

(Good gracious. A short little ficlet in response to a challenge. No big deal, right? Fifty one pages later, I finally feel like I'm done. And yes, I really did end it there. It's a month after the challenge was /supposed/ to be finished... But I think it was worth it. Even if I was overambitious in using all the scenarios instead of just four. ;) Hopefully I'll be forgiven, and some of you reading will take a moment to let me know what you think of my month of effort... And the further delays because of real life and ff.net problems. . I'm working on a couple of other stories, and if any of you darling readers have requests or suggestions, feel free to email or IM.


	10. Epilogue

This epilogue is dedicated to Sabacat, who reviewed every single chapter almost as soon as it came out.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
"What's wrong, Fairy Mary?" Ginny looked down at her daughter's freckled face, lips set into a the exact same pout Draco's lips would form when he was vehement about not pouting.   
  
"Nothing." The sullen tone was definitely indicative of a world-class Malfoy sulk. Ginny crossed her arms and used the patented Molly Weasley 'tell me all or else' look, and the nine year old had no chance. "Sarah's gone off to school with Robby, and Mags is too young and anyway she spends all her time with at Lily's house with her and Giselle, and Peter's too big a git to play with, and I'm all alone."  
  
Ginny sat down and gathered her little girl in for a hug. "Oh, honey."  
  
"It's not fair! Why can't I go to Hogwarts, too?" Mary allowed her mother to hug her, but still scowled fiercely.  
  
Ruffling the strawberry-blonde curls of her little girl, Ginny smiled. "Because you're not old enough yet, and you know it." The corner of Ginny's mouth turned up a bit as her daughter let out an indignant sniff that was a perfect imitation of the one Narcissa Malfoy gave when told something she didn't want to hear. "You remind me of how I was when the twins left. I sulked for days, until they sent home one of the serving platters from the Great Hall. I used it as a sled for years."  
  
"Do you think Sarah and James will send home a platter for me?" Mary swiped at her eyes and looked hopeful.  
  
"Not if they value their hides, they won't." Ginny looked fierce, then sighed. "Which means we can probably expect an owl with the proceeds of their pilfering within the next week, now that they've arrived and been sorted."  
  
Mary giggled. "Daddy was so happy Sarah got into Slytherin. I hope I go in Gryffindor, though, to be just like Uncles Gred and Forge."  
  
"Lord save us all," muttered Ginny drily. Her daughter looked at her sharply and she smiled innocently. "So what's that you were looking at before I came in?"  
  
"Just pictures," she said with a shrug. "They're not very organized."  
  
Ginny rolled her eyes. "Are you sure you're not Percy's child?" They shared a giggle and Mary pointed at a photograph of her father, out cold on the living room rug.   
  
"What happened there, Mummy?" The Ginny in the picture was alternately laughing and tending to the prone Draco, while several children hovered around.  
  
"Oh, that's right, you and Grandmama were having a day at the spa when Lucas's letter came." Ginny looked at the photograph again and laughed. "Well, it was his first year, and your Dad had been talking about how every Malfoy heir for centuries has been in Slytherin, you know how he does."  
  
The two females shared a long-suffering look, much to the amusement of the watching Malfoy patriarch. "When he got the letter from Lucas which said he'd been sorted into Hufflepuff, he fainted. Took us half an hour to get him out of his swoon."  
  
"I did not /swoon/," Draco said haughtily from the doorway.  
  
Ginny snickered at him. "Of course not, Malfoy. That's why we had to resort to smelling salts."  
  
"But Lucas is in Slytherin," said Mary, frowning.  
  
Ginny nodded. "He was just playing a trick, darling. That's why Robby had the camera ready to take your dad's picture."  
  
"Not a funny one," muttered Draco as he strode in to sit with them on the couch.  
  
"I thought it was extremely funny." Ginny smirked and Draco dropped a light kiss on her lips. Mary rolled her eyes at her parents and flipped through some more pages.  
  
She stopped at one which had her mother wearing a strange outfit and standing on a table. "Mummy, what's this you're wearing?"  
  
Ginny turned to look and stifled a giggle. "It's called a cheerleading outfit, sweeting. Muggles, especially American ones, wear them to cheer on sports teams."  
  
"I still can't believe you did that." Draco shook his head as he looked down at the picture of sixth-year Ginny, standing on the Slytherin table and waving pom-poms in the air as the picture-Draco buried his face in his hands and shook his head in disgust.  
  
Giggling, his wife said, "You were going insane with studying for your NEWTs. I had to do /something/ to break the tension."  
  
"Who's this looking up Mummy's skirt?"  
  
"What? Let me see that." Draco snatched the album away and glared at it. "Goyle! Why that rotten, no-good, perverted bastard."  
  
Ginny slapped the back of his head. "Is that any way to speak about the godfather of your sixth child?"  
  
"Yes, and you shouldn't swear in front of children, Daddy," Mary said primly, even though the corners of her mouth were turned up in a sly grin that was eerily reminiscent of her twin uncles.   
  
Draco stuck out his tongue. "You're not a child. You're a miniature McGonagall in fluffy pink dresses."  
  
Mary's eyebrow went up and she looked at her mother significantly before they both turned on Draco, tackling him to the ground and tickling him unmercifully.   
  
That night, after all the children still at home were settled into their beds, Draco pulled Ginny close and nibbled at her earlobe. "You know, Weasley, I've been thinking."  
  
"Will wonders never cease." Ginny snuggled back against her husband, enjoying his ministrations and the comfort of the blankets over them.  
  
He pinched her backside and she squealed. "Margaret's already six, you know." He traced a hand idly over the curve of her waist while resting his chin on her neck. "It's been a long time since we had a new one."  
  
"Hmm." Ginny curved her neck a bit further to accommodate him as he started to kiss his way along her pulse. "I understand Hermione's about got that spell to let the man carry the baby ready."  
  
Draco started nibbling, his hand moving forward to stroke her stomach. "But you're so sexy when you're pregnant. And the girls are outnumbered."  
  
Ginny turned so she could look into her husband's eyes. He took advantage of the changed position to push her nightgown up, running his free hand up and down the outside of her leg. With a sigh, she put her arms around his neck and said, "Well, every quidditch team does need some alternates..."  
  
  
  
  
  
Lucas Orion - keeper - 14 - Slytherin  
James Aquila - seeker - 13 - Ravenclaw  
(twin)Robert Janus - chaser - 11 - Gryffindor  
(twin)Sarah Gemini - beater - 11 - Slytherin  
Mary Sagitta - beater - 9  
Peter Eridanus - chaser - 8  
Margaret Lyra - chaser - 6  



End file.
